


Rising Ever Upwards

by Aeronomatron



Category: Original Work, ベイブレードバースト | Beyblade Burst (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Friendship, Gay, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Non-Canonical, Platonic Relationships, actually if you don't support lgbt kindly leave, also anyone else hate superking, i also hated GT, if you don't like trans characters don't read, its really weird to make relationships between kids sexual, maybe the world we saved was really the friends we made along the way, rant incoming in the author's notes, seriously gay, somehow this turned into a season1/2 rewrite but what better way to introduce a whole new cast, than by a local to international series of tournaments, these are fucking kids guys, wrote this fic solely to spit on GT and superking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:47:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 48,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27398188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeronomatron/pseuds/Aeronomatron
Summary: Akatsuki and Aragane Tsuchiya are sent to Japan to attend a prestigious school, and after joining the bey club, rekindle their interest in blading. They’ve got a lot to learn, but that won’t stop them from trying their best when they start competing in tournaments!But under the seemingly calm facade that Beyblade presents on the surface, a threat lies hidden, growing ever more powerful with every passing minute, and the stronger the twins and their friends become, the deeper they’re dragged into a world where their beys wield unimaginable power and they’re the only ones that stand between the world being torn apart by someone desperate and hungry enough to get their hands on that power.
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Male Character, Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Comments: 23
Kudos: 8





	1. Shifting Tides

It’s exactly 03:00 when Ghost shows up.

Why does everything have to be at 3 a.m., you ask? Well, the truth is it doesn’t. But it may as well when it comes to the less-understood side of the world. There’s always been a fascination with the “witching hour” and what sorts of benefits it brought demons, monsters, spirits.

To bladers that knew the fact, 3 a.m. is a strange time. It’s when they’re closest to their otherworldly partner, allowing for strengthening of the bond. Most would be sleeping, and so strengthen it through a dream or the like. But for those who were awake, they had to work a little harder to find that strength. But it’s also more rewarding.

For some if not most of the top bladers, training at 3 a.m. frequently was common. Despite all of this, Ousuke has never once seen Ghost train at 3 even though he would sometimes do so himself so he could communicate with Ophion clearly while practicing.

Ghost is perched on the edge of the WBBA building’s roof, dangerously close to tipping over and falling to their death. Ousuke hadn’t known they were there until they’d called to him and the other Elites.

“Champion.”

Ousuke keeps his face neutral. “You haven’t shown yourself in a while, Ghost. Not since your defeat last year.”

Ghost laughs, their voice neither feminine nor masculine enough to tell their gender. “True as that may be, you never had the same sort of talents I did.”

“Enough games,” one of the other Elites says curtly. He’s not the champion nor the most physically powerful, but his voice carries some authority and weight. “You must be here for something important. Let’s get straight to the point.”

“Good idea,” another Elite remarks, showing his teeth in a wide smile. His figure looms over the rest of them, moonlight gleaming off the curves of his solid musculature. “Ghost. We don’t have all day. Or all night, really.”

Ghost’s mask stares silently back at them, its eyeholes dark and expressionless. “I’m sensing a change coming soon. The new generation is looking to find its place in this world. It’s the Elites’ duty to guide them so that they may connect deeply with their spirits and bring about new eras along with ridding the Beyblade world of those who seek to take advantage of our bladers’ gifts. You all already knew this, or you wouldn’t be Elites. Hush, champion,” they snap when Ousuke makes to speak. “Change is coming faster than you’d like. I’ve tested each of you to make sure you’re all up to the challenge. If you fail me… well, it isn’t really about me anymore, is it? It’s our world and how much you’d like to preserve it.”

Ghost’s voice drops to a near-whisper. “And you. Arrogance will be your downfall, Ousuke, if you let it be. I already feel two individuals who might be heading this change. You think you’re so high and mighty because I allowed you to take the title of Champion? Trust me, I would not hesitate to applaud you being toppled by the new bladers because I handed it to you like candy. Do not be a disappointment.

“And you three.” The other Elites snap to attention. “You know what is expected of you. You know what needs to be done. If you keep your titles, fine. Whatever. It only ensures the new generation are even stronger when you are dethroned.”

They bow their heads. “We understand, Ghost.”

Ousuke scoffs internally. He doesn’t understand the respect they pay Ghost. If he’d been given the Champion title, then he was perfect for Champion. He didn’t need to listen to some _former_ champion trying to talk to them as though they were toddlers in need of a useless reminder. 

Under their mask, Ghost smiles. They know that currently in the backseat of a slightly scuffed and scratched-up blue sedan there are two boys. Those two boys’ souls are already starting to latch on to their respective spirits, slowly but surely, and underneath, an almost limitless well of power.

They feel the other spirits, stirring at merely being close to these boys. They feel the fire that burns in the boys’ hearts and the passion that motivates them. And they grin wider as they turn to watch as that car winds its way down the road.

A new era will soon come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warned ya in the tags.  
> -  
> I hated GT (and now Superking) so much. Where do I start. I hated the plot (a copypaste of ChoZ basically) and the character design. GOD. The designs were awful. Be honest, was there anyone out there who actually liked Joe's design? Or Pot's, or Blind's, or Arthur's? I sure didn't. What happened to the s1 designers? Who got fired? Those guys were iconic. These characters are just forgettable, especially with the recipe that they concocted - create new season. create new cast of disposable characters that look awful. Instantly forget about them. What happened to Fubuki, guys?! Why did he get replaced by Lame Lane? (I liked his hedgehog. I didn't like him.) What happened to Ken??? Daina?? Fockin Wakiya????  
> The plot is, well, you can't really do much with it. The show's about kids playing with magic tops. What are you gonna do really besides competitions and the like? But they didn't even try to get creative. Just competition after competition where the MC beats the most powerful bladers in 2 episodes because they have plot armor and trained really hard for... what, 20 minutes?  
> And the MC's. They are all LITERAL carbon copies of each other. They've got a really bad case of Same Face Syndrome. It's terrible. 'Nuff said.  
> God was my favorite season. It still had the original cast with some added characters, but the main thing was they all had personalities. They were memorable characters. Y'all remember Cuza? Me too! Free? Absolutely! That idiot Joshua? ...as much as I hate him, yes. The void swallowed them up and only spit out Free to get some nostalgia points. They also had a cool world tourney thing, and that was cool. It was great seeing the twist at the end - Joshua drags the entire Raging Bulls down and shows that you have to work as a team, but also as individuals and know your limits. The new seasons are just "drag in some 'powerful characters' for the MC to use as practice dummies until they fight the main villain." Because teams are not a thing anymore I guess.  
> AND THE GIRLS. WHERE ARE MY GIRLS. WHERE ARE THEY. Nowhere, because Takara Tomy hates Girl Main Characters. I don't know what's going on. Where are they? Where are you hiding them, Takara Tomy??  
> Defense types are useless. Stamina types are near useless unless you're Free De La Hoya. Balance-Attack is the new meta, because we're just going to disregard the entire rock-paper-scissors system that was implemented the very first season to Keep This From Happening. What the fock? Every single MC has either had an Attack Type or a Balance type. No variety, because kids only want to see the cool vroom vroom beys and the op dual spin rubber-spin stealing 2+ mode tip that is, no, not balanced. It's just simply better. Why? Because.  
> They fucked up Lui so hard in Superking... they literally changed his character to be a supporting one, but also like... mean? Like a playground bully? He was a legit threat in s1 and s2, and even s3 and maybe 4. And now he's just... a practice dummy. Like the others. His personality is gone. His entire elaborate "I'm a lone wolf that attains power by my own strength" is gone.  
> All the other "old" characters are just brought back, again, for a couple nostalgia points. At least Superking doesn't have terrible side character designs (except for the other Bombers. My god, that kid with the pasta hair is ugly.). But they're just here to be dummies. They're here so Pinecone and Crab Legs can become the very best by practicing off of them!!!11!1 All the Valt clones are back, too.  
> So I've written this. I don't know if I'll finish it. I don't know if it'll even get anywhere. But know I've done this out of sheer pettiness. I've gone and started this project because I hate what Beyblade has become. I hope you guys will enjoy the ride, because I'm about to crank this baby into overdrive and send us careening towards what could be our deaths in a fiery trainwreck.
> 
> Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. If you have questions or anything to say please comment. I will be reading all comments. :)


	2. A Single Spark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet your main characters: Tsuchiya Akatsuki and Tsuchiya Aragane. They're a weird pair of twins to be sure, but the other members of the beyblade club might just end up being weirder.

Suki comes to a dead stop as soon as he gets to the front of the school.

It takes Ara a moment to notice his twin isn’t right next to him. He whirls around and finds Suki gaping at the building, violet eyes wide with curiosity and confusion. He looks a little lost among the throngs of other students chatting to each other as they make their way to the entrance, staring around like he’s just stepped into Alice’s wonderland.

“Oh, for…” Ara goes back and grabs Suki’s arm, yanking him forward. Suki stumbles for a moment and makes an irritated noise, tearing himself out of his twin’s grip.

“What is your _problem_?” Ara hisses in his ear. “Don’t just stand there like an idiot.”

Suki blinks at him. “It really wasn’t what I was expecting. There’s like, literally just one cherry tree. I thought there would be a lot more.”

Ara sighs. “Whatever, let’s just go to class before you get lost and are late for your first day.”

As they head into the school, Suki looks around to take everything in. While Ara figures out where to get their schedule, his eyes land on a poster.

It’s clearly done by an amateur, with crude images photoshopped on and a color palette that looked as though someone had eaten a ton of neon paints and then vomited all over the poster. ‘BEYBLADE CLUB’ is stamped in bold letters across the top while a few photos of kids holding up beyblades and smiling are taped underneath along with said photoshopped images.

There’s some smaller print underneath that has the room number and meeting times so Suki steps away from Ara to better read the words.

A grin slowly stretches across his face. He turns to call for Ara and there is nobody there.

_Damn. He really did leave me on my own._

Just as he’s about to give up, he sees Ara’s familiar face bobbing through a crowd of upperclassmen and he shoulders his bag, gripping it tightly as he plunges into the crowd.

He ends up stepping on two feet (belonging to separate people) and received a lot of glares and middle fingers for shoving his way through but he does catch up to Ara.

“Hey. Hey, Ara. Guess what I found out?”

Suki can’t keep the smile off his face. Ara looks at him with a pensive expression. “...Please do tell.”

“There’s a Beyblade club at this school.” Suki’s eyes are shining. “We should go! We could totally make a team and like, compete for the school and stuff. It’ll be so cool plus you can actually socialize.”

Ara wrinkles his nose. “I’m not anti-social. I can hold a conversation perfectly fine.”

“Really?”

“That’s none of your concern, anyway, but I’ll go if you want me to.”

“I want you to. You’re the best blader I know anyway. If we can form a team I’d really want you to be on it with me.” A pause. “Also maybe you can actually find a girlfriend you can keep for more than three days.”

Ara’s brow furrows and he walks faster. Suki quickly jogs to catch up. ‘What? You know I’m not lying. Plus Mom really wants you to have a girlfriend. She told me so, she thinks you need someone that can understand you and be with you ‘cuz you’re so cold all the time.”

“Suki, I don’t like girls. I’ve told both you and Mom this.”

“I think you just haven’t found the right one,” Suki declares. “If there’s one at the club at least she’ll share your interest, right? Your last one just wanted to play tennis a lot.”

“Suki.”

“I mean, if she’s pretty and smart and funny. I dunno why you’d go for a girl that’s not pretty or smart or funny but your choice I guess.”

“SUKI.”

His brother stops, startled. Ara pauses besides him.

“I’m not getting a girlfriend. And maybe there’s not even any girls in the club. So shut it.”

Ara’s lips thin, and he keeps walking forward. It takes a moment for Suki to catch up, but he doesn’t try to bring up the girlfriend issue again.

* * *

“So how was your classes?” Suki asks cheerfully as he falls into step besides Ara, who looks like his brain is half asleep.

“Alright. It was mostly just introductions.”

“Ok, so the poster said the Beyblade club meets on the roof right after school, and goes until 17:30 or later if people want to stick around until 18:00, which is when school closes. You promised to come so we should go there.”

“And we aren’t right now?” Ara points out a sign noting they’re now on the third floor.

“Um, I wasn’t really paying attention. Was thinking about stuff like who could be in the club.”

Ara points out another sign showing a flight of stairs leading directly to the roof. “You’re lucky I was watching out for you.”

As they climb up the stairs and push the door open, stepping out into the sunlight, a low voice sounds to their left.

“So you two are interested in the bey club?”

Ara doesn’t pay it much attention but Suki quickly turns to face the speaker - a boy with black and purple hair, and eyes a few shades darker than his own bright violet irises.

“Wait,” the boy says suddenly, the attempt at being threatening replaced by an excited tone. “I thought purple eyes were rare around here! I can’t believe I’m not special anymore!”

“Um, yes. I’ve got purple eyes. But that’s not the point. We’re here for a bey club? Do you run it?”

“I’m the founder, yep. The name’s Akemi.” The boy reaches out a hand to shake but then suddenly withdraws it quickly, seeming to remember something. “Wait, no. Unknow me for a sec, I gotta redo this.”

Suki blinks, confused at Akemi’s sudden changes in behavior. “I don’t think that’s how memory works.”

He adjusts his stance so he’s slouched against the wall, but it comes off as more awkward than anything. Akemi only manages to hold it for a moment before sighing and slapping his palm against his forehead, giving up his redo attempt. “God, I messed up. Now you all know I’m lame.”

“I guess? I think you’re pretty cool.”

Suki glances to Ara, then strides over to figure out what’s going on. Ara is looking down on a sleeping boy on a bench, snoring lightly. Ara shakes his shoulder gently, and he startles awake.

“Wh- Huh? What’s going on?” He sits up suddenly, alert. “Wait, who’re you two?”

“I’m Ara and this is my twin brother Suki. We’re here for the bey club.”

“You’re in the right place. I’m Luna!”

Luna stands, holding out a hand to each of the twins, who shake. “Don’t mind Akemi trying to act edgy over there. He thinks it’s cool and it’s totally not, I think it just makes him look kind of weird.”

“It’s not weird, you sleepyhead. I have to be menacing.” Akemi stomps over, slightly miffed that he’d messed up his ‘very cool and edgy intro’. “It strikes fear into the hearts of those that know my name.”

Luna smiles amicably at him. “Sure, sure. You’re very scary. Anyway, Akemi did create this club. So he’s technically the boss.”

“Damn right I am. But we still only have four people in the club, including me, so we can’t be recognized as an official club. Do any of you two happen to know good bladers?”

The twins shake their heads. Suki pipes up with “We’re new to the school, so we don’t really know anyone.”

Akemi sighs. “Okay, fine. Maybe we’ll get another member tomorrow or something. You guys have beys?”

Suki fishes around in his pockets and takes out Andromeda. “Yep! This is Celestial Andromeda.” He holds out the bey and both Luna and Akemi crowd him to get a better look at the purple-black bey. Its blades are a slightly clearer purple with sparkles inside so it glimmers under the sunlight as Suki tilts it. The ring wiggles loose slightly and Suki frowns. He’ll have to get that fixed.

Ara shrugs. “Didn’t think I’d be joining a beyblade club first day. Aeternitas is at home right now.”

“Andromeda’s cool,” Akemi grudgingly admits, “but Stygian Amuratë is way cooler.” He takes his own bey from the case at his hip and shows it to the others. The gold highlights contrast sharply with the dark grey base, and although it has purple as well, it’s the rubber of the saws and other parts that’s purple instead of the plastic. The chip’s metal is shiny and its plastic edges are pristine as though the bey had just recently been crafted.

“Okay, it looks cool, but can it do cool things?” Suki challenges quickly so they’ll stop ogling at Amuratë. “Not all the fancy beys do great in battle.”

“Same goes for yours,” Akemi quickly snipes back. “Battle me right now and I’ll prove you wrong.”

“Fine. I will.”

Ara sits down besides Luna. The other boy slides him a brief look, then shifts his gaze back to the other two boys who are dragging out a stadium from under a covering.

“Is your brother always like this?” Luna murmurs.

“Hate to say it, but yes. He tires out eventually, though.” Ara returns the action towards Luna. “You’re a blader too, correct?”

“Yeah. Luxior is my bey. You want to see it?”

“Not now. I’m afraid if I look away from Suki he’ll do something stupid and possibly die.”

Luna barks out a laugh, but then his face slackens. Ara notices just in time to catch the boy as he slumps forward, already asleep.

“Luna. Wake up.” Ara roughly shakes him again and Luna jerks into wakefulness with the grace of a drowning person surfacing.

He only looks disoriented for a moment, though. Then he grimaces unhappily. “Narcolepsy and cataplexy. It sucks. Thanks for catching me, by the way.”

Ara quickly lets go of him. “Do you just fall asleep randomly? I don’t understand?”

“I usually go to sleep whenever I feel intense emotions. Like if someone tells a funny or a sad story, or I’m listening to music. It is kind of random and I need someone to be with me at all times.”

A shout draws both of their attention. Suki is yelling angrily and making exaggerated hand motions while Akemi has his hands on his hips, shouting right back.

“Better go see what the fuss is about,” Ara sighs, heaving himself up and making his way over to the stadium. He looks inside and finds both Amuratë and Andromeda sitting in the stadium, unmoving.

“-learly Andromeda stopped after Amuratë. Your eyes are just bad you moron!”

“You’re the one that wasn’t looking, dumbass! I saw Andromeda just fall right over and Amuratë was still spinning!”

“Cut it out,” Ara interjects sharply, and both boys turn to him, stunned into silence. “I can’t tell which one of you lost since I wasn’t here, but I’ll be reffing. We’re calling this a draw and you two are going to have a courteous, respectful battle.”

Suki quickly grabs Andromeda and complies because he knows how scary his brother can be when actually pissed, though Ara has a rather generous amount of patience. Akemi takes the hint and reloads his own bey as well.

“Ready? Set,” Ara calls.

“3.”

Akemi stares at Suki, eyes narrowed, his knuckles white around his launcher’s grip.

“2.”

Suki glares right back, a challenge burning in his eyes.

“1.”

“Go SHOOT!” both bladers yell simultaneously, and the beys fly into the stadium as dark blurs.

Amuratë immediately banks towards Andromeda, saw blades out and ready to draw blood. Andromeda dives out of the way, and both beys circle aggressively, primed to attack again.

They clash just a moment later and Andromeda drives Amuratë back, and Akemi looks a little unsure and afraid for just a second before he replaces it with a determined expression.

“Amuratë! Don’t let this guy beat you so easily!” The bey responds with a pulse of grey and purple aura, and slams to a stop, its saw blades spinning faster as it tries to fend off Andromeda. Both beys are knocked away, and Amuratë curves up along the outer edge of the stadium before diving towards Andromeda, which is picking up speed as it tears across the open space.

In a flash, Andromeda has slammed into Amuratë and sent it flying upwards and out of the stadium. Suki looks smug as Akemi’s mouth gapes open and closed like a fish’s.

“Over finish. Suki is the winner.”

Akemi scoops up his bey, looking defeated. “You just got lucky. I’ll crush you.”

“It was a good battle though,” Luna observes from behind and just off to the side of Akemi, and said blader jumps, whirling around.

“Damnit creepy sleepy! Would you not do that!?”

Luna swats him over the head. “I’m not doing anything. Anyway, Suki, how long have you been blading?”

“About two years.” Suki preens under the attention. “But I just made Celestial Andromeda a couple months ago.”

“That’s some good control for ‘a couple months ago’.”

“Thanks?”

Luna shrugs. “I was impressed.” He takes out Luxior. “Care to have a battle with me as well?”

Suki’s eyes light up when he sees the rainbow-themed bey. “You know it!”

* * *

“So your last few battles didn’t go well,” Ara observes while Suki sulks besides him, dragging his feet on the concrete.

After Suki’s initial win, he’d lost 1-2 to Luna, and then to Akemi. Four times in a row. Clearly it didn’t help his wounded pride when Akemi had snarked about his being so confident after his losses.

Ara lets the silence stretch on for a moment longer before he breaks it. “Suki. Get your head out of the ground. These are your teammates and rivals, they’re here to help you and them get better.”

“My head is _not_ in the ground,” Suki objects hotly. “It is right here on my shoulders.”

“It’s a saying. What I mean is it’s natural to win and lose, especially to those that are around the same level as you. You aren’t the global champion or even in the global top ten. Don’t delude yourself.”

“You weren’t the one that lost five times in a row!”

Ara stares at him calmly. “And if I was? I would not react like you are. You don’t need to overthink every loss. It happens.”

“Sure, but I’m not allowed to feel shitty after that loss streak? You’re about as emotive as a rock.”

“You get worked up too easily.”

“If I replaced you with a potted plant, there would be no difference.”

“The plant would help make up for the air you waste while you feed your ego. I’m not saying it’s massive, but I am saying you’d be better off not doing that to yourself.”

As much as Suki loathed to admit it, Ara was right. He had been overconfident and arrogant after that first win against Akemi, and it had cost him. And then he’d allowed every other loss to pile on and affect his next battle, and then his next until it had become a vicious downward spiral.

That was definitely something to work on.

“…hey, Ara. What did you think of Akemi and Luna?”

“Oh, me?” Ara continues to walk, but his gaze becomes vacant as he recalls the battles between Suki and the two other bladers. “I think they’re strong. Obviously strong enough to rival the likes of you and yes, even me. They have personalized beys, and are clearly comfortable with them. It would be tough to fight against them in a tournament.”

“No, I meant like them as people, not bladers.”

“Oh. Well, in that case, I think they’ll be good friends. True friends that can stick to your side and help keep you in check, support you when you need it, and just in general be there. Luna tends to keep to himself and Akemi I can already see talking my ear off, but they’re not bad people. Good teammates as well for a bey team.”

“Yeah I thought that too,” Suki quickly adds. “I just had to check with you.”

“Mhm.” Ara doesn’t sound convinced, but he lets Suki get away with it.

They keep walking in companionable silence.

And quite suddenly, the atmosphere turns chilly. The air seems to snap and crackle with cold, and the hairs on Ara’s neck raise. He comes to a dead stop, and Suki notices a moment later as well.

They don’t know it, but their eyes are glowing, the yellows of Ara’s eyes turning almost a sickly pale shade and Suki’s violets burning like an amethyst catching the sun’s light fully. Gooseflesh crawls across their skin.

Suki swings his head around, feeling what he doesn’t know yet is an aura, his skin tingling with the faintest touch of what could be described as _magic_. He’s the first to spot the silent figure sitting on top of a street light, legs dangling down in the open.

Ara glances towards where his brother is staring and sees the person as well. Their face is obscured by their hood and what looks like a flat white mask. The setting sun tints the swaths of pale silvery fabric gracefully draped over their figure orange as it sways in the slight breeze.

“Who are you?” Suki calls to the mystery person as they get to their feet, easily balancing on the street lamp.

They can’t be very much taller than him, he notes now that they’re standing. Though the cloak they’re wearing isn’t helping him figure anything out.

Instead of answering, the stranger keeps staring at them, then turns and drops from the street lamp, landing lightly on the sidewalk. They begin to walk away, not looking at the twins again.

Suki grits his teeth and clenches his fist, and Ara only just notices before he’s off after the stranger, too late to stop him.

“Suki, wait!”

Ignoring his brother’s calls, Suki charges towards the stranger’s retreating back, reaching out a hand to grab their shoulder and spin them around.

They turn as he’s almost on them, and suddenly there’s pressure all around Suki, as though gravity had quadrupled its hold on him. He’s forced to one knee, hands pressed flat against the ground to keep his face from smashing downwards. Energy thrums through his body and crackles around him.

What looks like liquid fire glows to life around them, bright silver-blue. It seems to solidify into sharp metal edges that then crumble back into the liquid-aura, writhing and wavering like flames but flowing like a fluid, shimmering and translucent.

It only seems like that for a moment before the aura is gone as if it had never been there in the first place.

The stranger looks at him for a moment longer. Then the pressure is released and Suki gasps, reeling back and falling on his butt. He stares up at the stranger as they continue walking away.

“What…” Suki manages weakly as Ara catches up to him and the stranger turns a corner, walking out of sight. “What the heck was that? Ara, did you see that?”

Ara grabs Suki’s arm and hauls him up with a massive amount of effort. “I dunno, but it was weird. One second you were running and the next you were on the ground. You tell me what happened.”

“It was like… that person could control gravity. They just pushed me down and walked away!”

Suki brushes his pants off, and Ara notices the smoldering remains of magic slowly dissipating from his once-vibrant violet irises, the glow fading and leaving his eyes just as they were before.

Today was shaping up to be the weirdest day of his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> imagine getting owned by someone who didn't even touch you


	3. From the Dust and Sand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The great adventure of Suki and Ara continue as they meet someone new to add to the ranks of the bey club.
> 
> Well, one of them.

“So, up for a rematch?”

Akemi still looks smug about yesterday, and it makes Suki’s blood boil for a moment before he catches Ara’s expression.

“Maybe after Ara battles. He didn’t do anything yesterday, so he should battle right now.”

Suki’s gaze drifts and he notices a seemingly half-built training course of sorts off to the side. There’s a lot of makeshift equipment, like some hula hoops, elastic rope and scuffed dumbbells (probably all borrowed from the school gym) and a pile of cinderblocks, most likely taken from the larger pile in the corner of the roof.

There is also a Luna, sprawled out on the floor near the “training course”.

Suki rushes over to him while his brother and Akemi set up for a battle, counting themselves down.

He kneels down by Luna and shakes his shoulder. “Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey,” he calls and Luna’s eyes flutter open slowly.

“Is it time already…? And what was that rhyme?”

“I just made it up. Are you going to go watch my bro destroy Akemi or what?”

“Sure.”

Still on legs slightly wobbly from being asleep, Luna leans on Suki and hobbles over to the stadium, where Aeternitas and Amuratë are facing off. So far it’s looking like Amuratë is losing, its spin speed rapidly dropping as it wavers from Aeternitas’s attacks. One final blow and Amuratë is bursted, the three pieces flying in different directions and scattering all over the stadium. 

Akemi makes a noise akin to a beached whale giving birth and scoops up his bey, annoyance written all over his face.

Ara doesn’t say anything as Akemi grumbles and reassembles Amuratë, instead gazing into the stadium where Aeternitas is finally starting to slow.

“Ey, that was pretty nice Ara,” Suki tells him, and it takes a moment for the words to reach Ara. He crouches down and picks up Aeternitas with that same blank look that Suki recognizes is Ara trying to figure out something. Suki sighs and yanks him up by his arm and Ara smacks him in return as he abruptly zones back in.

“Don’t do that.”

“We’ve got a club to be part of. Come on, Ara, there’s no time to daydream now!”

“They’re not really an official club,” Ara points out but nevertheless heads over after Suki to where Akemi is placing the cinderblocks into a neater stack.

“I don’t feel like blading today,” Akemi announces to the other three club members as he slams another cinderblock on the stack. “Let’s do some good old-fashioned exercise.”

Suki picks up a dumbbell, lifting it up to check what weight it was, then chucks it at Ara who barely catches it. “Did you haul all this from the gym?”

“Me and… Luna,” Akemi huffs as he places another cinderblock. The stack is to his waist now. “Luna is like… a little twig… he can’t… hold more than a feather’s… weight…”

Said boy yawns. “I had my workout this morning. I’m going to take a nap.”

The other three look at him with incredulous expressions, and Luna simply lies down right then and there and goes to sleep.

“Okay, whatever, his loss. Suki, you an’ me are gonna move this thing from here,” Akemi indicates where he’s standing, “to the other side of the roof.”

Suki picks up two cinderblocks, then after a moment’s hesitation, piles a third on as well. Ara keeps an eye on Luna as he tosses his dumbbell from hand to hand, smiling faintly as he watches Akemi make a face, then gather up four of the concrete bricks and stick out his tongue at Suki.

Suki’s face reddens and he packs on two more, chin lifted high in defiance. He staggers off towards the other side of the roof and Akemi gives chase, shouting about not being outdone.

It’s a fairly uneventful meeting, with the only exception being when Suki dropped a cinderblock on Akemi’s foot and they’d started arguing with each other, only broken up when Ara threatened to start hurling cinderblocks at both of them.

Ara’s arms don’t feel too sore as he sets down his weights but he knows they’re going to hurt when he wakes up tomorrow. Suki on the other hand doesn’t really seem to get the memo, challenging Akemi to another round of pass-the-cinderblock.

“Bet you’ll drop it before I do!”

“Yeah, nice try! I can see you shaking!”

They do look a bit exhausted, sweat beading Akemi’s forehead and soaking through Suki’s shirt. At some point both of them had shed their jackets and up close, Suki has a fair bit more defined muscle than Akemi, who looks like the personification of a stick. It explained why Suki had won the last three games of pass-the-cinderblock.

Ara walks over to the bench where he’d deposited Luna and some water bottles, and opens one up for himself. Those two could come and get the water when they remembered not to dehydrate.

He watches them banter as they heave around the heavy concrete blocks, occasionally exchanging jabs and even more rarely compliments. Akemi again drops his block first and Suki grins at Akemi, making the other boy stamp his foot and come over to Ara. He snatches up a water bottle and drinks greedily, almost inhaling the water.

He finally sets down his water to take a breath. Then, “Ara, can you tell Suki to stop being so strong? I’m kinda losing my reputation as a cool an’ awesome club captain.”

“He’s technically only just a bit above average. Maybe it’s your issue.”

Akemi pouts and grumbles but doesn’t speak after that.

Suki comes over to them after he puts away his blocks and attempts to smack the dust off his pants, only to leave dustier handprints behind. He sighs and dusts off his hands instead.

”When we get home, you’re going to take off everything and get it washed, then take a shower,” Ara tells him as he grabs a water bottle. “I won’t have you tracking concrete dust all over a place that’s rented for us.”

Suki makes a noncommittal noise of agreement as he gulps down water. Ara can tell he’s not really listening. He’ll have to be reminded when they get back.

“Today’s session is over,” Akemi says suddenly. “Let’s put away the stuff in that shed.”

Ara nods, standing and taking his dumbbells over to the storage. The next ten minutes are spent collecting all the equipment minus the cinderblocks and putting it away as best as they can.

Luna’s still taking a snooze on the bench, so Suki goes over to wake him up.

“...huh? What’d I miss?”

“A lot. We just exercised.”

“Ah.”

“Suki. Let’s go,” Ara calls from the doorway, and Suki nods. “I’ll leave you with Akemi, then.”

The walk to the school entrance is an awkward silence as Ara reflects on what he saw the day before and Suki plans how he’s going to defeat Akemi the next time they battle.

Neither of them notice the person that turns the corner in front of them until said person smashes into them with about as much force as a small car.

“Uff-” Suki is thrown backwards, landing on his butt for the second time in two days. Ara is not so lucky, toppling back and smashing the back of his head against the hard floor with a sickening thud, immediately getting knocked out.

“Ohmygosh I’m so sorry!” The person, a bronze-skinned girl with spiky black hair that looks about the same age as the twins, holds out a hand to Suki, her orange-gold eyes wide and apologetic. “Are you okay?”

Suki accepts her help, hauling himself up to his feet. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he answers. Then he turns and his blood runs cold.

Ara is unconscious on the ground and isn’t moving.

He and the girl rush to Ara’s side, and while he frets, she gingerly lifts his head up, feeling the back for any bumps.

“He’ll be okay,” the girl says to Suki, though she still looks a little worried. “I don’t know if he has a concussion or not. I don’t think the nurse’s is still open, do you live close by?”

“Yeah. It’s within walking distance for sure.”

Suki slides his hands under his brother and tries to lift him up, but ends up staggering back and hitting his tailbone on the floor with a painful thump. The girl winces.

“Need some help?” she offers. Suki stares at her dubiously. She doesn’t seem like the type that can carry a hundred and fifty pound boy four blocks, her figure lean and wiry but not really what he’d put his trust in for carrying his brother around.

She lifts up Ara easily and slings him over a shoulder as if he was no lighter than a feather.

Suki blinks, his brain not quite registering what just happened.

The girl holds out a hand to him again and he takes it dumbly, still trying to figure out how to react.

“I’m Byren, by the way. But most people call me Ren.” Ren sweeps some hair out of her face. “So where to?”

“Um. Follow me. And I’m Akatsuki - Suki for short - and the guy you knocked out is my twin brother Aragane, Ara for short.”

“Awesome.” As Ren swings around to follow Suki, Aeternitas slips out of Ara’s jacket pocket and falls to the ground with a metallic clink. Ren bends down and picks up the bey, studying it.

“You guys are bladers?” she asks curiously as she hurries to catch up with Suki.

“Yup. We’re part of the Bey Club for this school. Are you one too?”

“Mhm! My partner’s Arcane Bastet. I’d show you if I didn’t have my hands full.” She lapses into silence for a moment. Then, “Wait, there’s a Bey Club?”

“You didn’t see from the eye-blindingly bright posters on the walls?”

“...No, I didn’t.”

Quickly Ren presses Aeternitas into Suki’s palm. His fingers automatically curl around it.

“You should join the Bey club. We just need one more blader and then we can call it official.”

“Hm… where do you guys meet up for the club?”

Suki makes a vague gesture. “The roof. End of school till 17:30.”

“Great, I’ll see you there tomorrow. I’ve got a bit of study hall so I won’t be there till maybe twenty minutes later?”

They keep walking, out of the school and into the semi-busy streets. At this time of day all the adults would be coming home from work or going to work if they had the night shift.

If he came back this late back at home, his parents would give him an earful for staying out so long. At least here he won’t be nagged when he comes back late.

This time, there’s no stranger in a white cloak waiting for him. He doesn’t feel that same sort of charged energy in the air, one that makes his hair stand on end and his skin tingle and itch. He’s still thinking about exactly what happened. Maybe he’d misremembered and he’d been pushed by the person? It was impossible for them to shove him without physically touching him, right?

Maybe they weren’t here because Ren was walking with him. Maybe they were a stalker but they didn’t want to be noticed by anyone else.

The thought chills him to the core. Stalkers could be a very dangerous kind of person, if provoked. He has no way of knowing if they already knew where he lived, or his day schedule, or anything.

“Um. Ren. Do you live close by here by any chance?” he asks, hoping for a yes.

“I mean, kinda? I dunno if it’s super close or not. But I think most of the kids going to school here in Beigoma live around here. Why?”

“Nevermind.” He could deal with this with Ara. No including others.

“That was a weird thing to ask.”

Suki isn’t listening, instead watching the ripples on the surface of the river winding by the road. The setting sun makes the water glisten.

_’I’ll be ready for that weirdo next time they show up.’_

“...ot very talkative, are ya? I said, you and your brother have cool matching necklaces! Hello?”

Ren is ignored again and she gives a frustrated sigh, but does stop talking.

* * *

“We’re here.”

Ren looks at the apartment complex dubiously. “Y’all live here?”

“Yes. No more questions, let’s just get Ara settled in.”

Suki strides confidently to the elevator and they both take it up to the third level, where the violet-eyed twin leads them to a room. He unlocks it and steps inside, Ren right on his heels.

“This is a pretty nice place. Are your parents paying your rent?”

“Yeah. They didn’t really trust any transfer families to take care of us and told us we were gonna have to learn some responsibility for ourselves.”

Ren sets down Ara gently on the couch and slings her backpack off, dumping it at the foot of the couch by Suki’s, feeling the back of his head again. It’s swelled up a little, the bump about the size of a chicken egg and crusted with a little blood. Grimacing, Ren wanders over into the kitchen and rifles around for a plastic ziploc bag.

“Suki. Do you have ziploc bags?”

“I do, as a matter of fact. They’re in the third drawer on the very right.” Suki enters the kitchen, glancing around to make sure Ren didn’t mess it up too much. “If you want ice, the dispenser’s on the fridge door.”

Ren finally pulls free a little plastic baggie and fills it up with little ice cubes from the dispenser, then returns to Ara’s side.

His breathing is even and slow, and Ren carefully slides the makeshift ice pack underneath him.

“He’ll probably need ice for a few days. And he shouldn’t blade at all tomorrow. If he’s fine the day after that he can start again. Suki, you need to stay close and make sure he doesn’t get worse, ok?”

“I got it.”

Suki’s stomach grumbles suddenly, and he turns away, embarrassed. “I’ll make some food for us. You’re welcome to stay until… well, I guess whenever you wanna leave.”

Ren nods. “I’ll watch Ara.”

She perches on one of the couch’s arms, taking out her phone.

Suki, meanwhile, grabs a pack of pan-fry noodles and heats up a skillet on the stove while he sets to briskly preparing the other ingredients.

About half an hour later, he returns to the main room with two plates of fried noodles. He’d mixed in some bok choy and mushrooms, and the whole thing smells delicious, the aroma filling the entire room. Ren quickly puts away her phone and shucks off her jacket, slinging it over the couch back and grabbing a plate.

“I left some in the refrigerator for Ara. I’ll give it to him when he wakes up.”

Ren nods. “Wise choice.”

They eat silently. Awkwardly. Neither of them really know how to initiate a conversation over food and they keep looking away from each other after seeing the other make eye contact.

Suki finds himself staring at her for the fourth time and tries to tear his eyes away from her, but instead his gaze slides down and he notices her breasts.

Really, a lack of breasts. Ren has the flattest chest he’s ever seen a girl her age have, and before he can stop himself, he blurts, “Hey Ren. What happened to your, uh, boobs?”

His face turns red from shame and he quickly shovels some noodles into his mouth, refusing to look up.

Ren starts laughing, and Suki sneaks a peek. She doesn’t look insulted at all. He breathes a sigh of relief.

“I don’t have any. I never have. It’s ok, a lot of people ask me that when they notice and they always have the same reaction. You included.” Her tone is teasing, but friendly.

“Wait, so…” Suki’s still confused. “So you were born without any?”

Her expression smooths out into something more serious. “I was born with a boy’s body. I decided I liked being a girl better.”

“People can just decide stuff like that?”

“No, it’s more like…” Ren’s forehead creases as she tries to figure out how to explain it. “I feel like I wasn’t in the right body. It was a lot more comfortable when people started looking at me like I was a girl. Feels more… right. I was a girl, just shaped like a boy on the outside.”

“Ah. I see.” Suki does not see. He’s still trying to wrap his head around the concept that Ren is, well, not really a girl, but at the same time she is? But she doesn’t have boobs… Did she have a… Wait, then what defined a girl and a boy? So she was actually a girl but she just had the wrong body parts?

His head hurts from thinking so hard. He directs his attention to his noodles and starts to almost viciously shove them down his throat so he doesn’t get brain overload.

“Just think of me as a regular girl. That’s not too hard, right?”

“Guess not.” That, he could do, at least.

They continue to eat in silence. It’s a bit less awkward than before, but Suki keeps sneaking looks at Ren’s top, her short-sleeve shirt not too tight over her chest but just enough to clearly outline her pecs.

He has a lot of questions but he doesn’t want to invade her privacy, so he shoves them down and starts thinking about Ara instead.

“Is Ara gonna have permanent damage?” he asks quietly to change the subject. Ren shakes her head.

“I don’t think so! It’s not too serious. He just needs to get some rest and not strain himself while he’s still recovering, and he should be just fine in a few days.”

“He won’t have issues with that. It’s me that gets antsy if I’m told I can’t do anything strenuous over the period of ‘a few days’. Plus, it would mean Akemi is getting more training in than me, and that means he’ll be getting better while I sit around. I’d never be able to resist training.”

“Who’s Akemi?”

“Oh, well he’s a pretty strong blader. Captain of our club, as a matter of fact. His bey’s Amuratë. We’re about evenly matched in power, though he’s beat me a few more times than I’ve beat him.” Suki makes a face.

“Guess I’ll find out tomorrow.” Ren checks her phone and starts. “Oh, I should get going! See you at the club!”

“Bye.”

Ren grabs her jacket and backpack and strides out the door, giving him a wave before she disappears into the hallway.

“What a weird girl,” Ara mutters from the couch. Suki jumps.

“You’re awake?”

“I smelled your noodles.”

Suki remembers the plate he’d plastic wrapped and put in the fridge and stands to get it. “I’ll go get your leftovers. How much of our conversation did you hear?”

“Enough. I heard about Ren’s situation. I also heard your concern. It’s very touching. Now, can I have my food?”

“Sure thing.” Suki pops it in the microwave for thirty seconds, then takes it out. He grabs his used fork and sets the plate down on the table. Ara is sitting up, gingerly touching the back of his head. He winces and grabs the ice pack to hold it against his injury.

Suki watches him eat with a little apprehension.

 _’Ara is strong,’_ he tells himself. _’He’ll be back to full strength in no time.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehe i learned how to type ë


	4. Sticks and Stones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The bey club becomes official, and Ren sorts out... a problem of hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heads up for this chapter: deadnaming, misgendering, read at your own discretion

As soon as Suki is released from class, he huffs a sigh of relief. It’s Friday! No more classes for another two days. Though, he still has a couple assignments for his math class that he should get done. But his mind quickly shifts into Beyblade mode as he heads up the stairs two at a time, bursting out of the door in a flurry of black and purple.

Luna and Akemi look up, locked in battle with each other but their concentration is broken from the commotion.

Luxior steals the opportunity to deflect Amuratë’s fierce attack and send it flying out of the stadium.

“Hey! I wasn’t paying attention! Cheater!”

Luna shrugs. “It’s not my fault you weren’t.”

Suki looks around. “Guys, have you seen Ara?”

“I’m here,” a voice says calmly from behind him. Ara is slowly ascending the stairs, holding an ice pack to the back of his head. “I didn’t want to make my head worse by rushing like you did.”

Both boys drop their backpacks by the door, the space coined the ‘backpack pile’, and head over to the stadium, Ara making a beeline for the bench and sitting himself down firmly. Suki admires and is even a little jealous of his commitment and will.

“I got us a new member,” Suki says excitedly. “Her name’s Ren and she said she’ll be late today since she has study hall. But if she decides to stay that means we’ll have five members.”

Realization dawns on Akemi’s face. “Yes!” he crows, pumping a fist in the air, his loss momentarily forgotten. “It’ll be official!”

Suki grins. “While we wait, let’s battle!”

He runs over to the stadium, Luna stepping aside so he can take his place, and settles into his stance.

His thighs give a twinge of pain and Suki groans, sinking to one knee. “Ow…”

Akemi laughs out loud at him. “Sore from yesterday? I already got used to it. If you can’t handle that, you can’t beat me!”

Gritting his teeth, Suki gets up, going back into his crouched stance. Everything seems to be sore - his back, his arms, his legs. Each time he moves his tense muscles protest, making him feel as creaky as an old, rusty machine.

“That’s nothing,” Suki barks out, trying to push past his pain. “I’m good now. Ready?”

Akemi gets in his own stance. “Yeah, set!”

“3, 2, 1! Go shoot!”

As soon as Andromeda lands, it goes on the aggressive, immediately zeroing in on Amuratë and smashing into it. Amuratë’s saws whir to life, batting away Andromeda and both beys start circling each other.

“Go, Andromeda! Comet Shoot!”

“Stygian Pierce!”

Their beys glow faintly with aura as they dive for each other, crashing against their opponents in the middle with a resounding crack. Andromeda manages to best Amuratë’s attack and pushes it back, and Amuratë retreats, weakened.

“Suki’s getting a bit better,” Luna notes as he sits by Ara.

Ara nods. “The training yesterday hasn’t shown any effects today since Suki’s muscles are still recovering. But Akemi is looking good as well.”

The door to the roof swings open noisily and they all look up to see Ren.

She doesn’t waste any time staring as she drops her stuff by the backpack pile, straightening her jacket and striding over. “I was told there’s a Beyblade club meeting here. I’m gonna be honest, I was expecting a little bit more, but this’ll be just fine.”

Suki notices she’s wearing a belt now, her launcher and case strapped to one hip. Ara has a similar one he’s currently keeping back at their apartment since he’s resting, but his and Suki’s are darker colored than Ren’s soft chrome-and-bronze-colored one, and Ara had decorated his with little tick marks like a clock’s face.

He’d never really paid much attention to each person’s bey case and belt, but now he’s noticing little details about each of them that gave them a sort of personality. Luna’s is painted with pastel rainbow colors, the stripes wrapping around the case and the belt a plain white. Akemi’s is dark grey, but the case itself is purple and gold with two small plastic golden beads hanging from the end.

Suki suddenly feels left out. He’d never decorated _his_ case. He makes a mental note to do so when he gets back.

“Is that Amuratë?” Ren asks.

Akemi’s chest puffs out. “Yeah! It’s super awesome. Watch, I’ll burst Andromeda in five seconds.”

Suki gives him a look. “Not on my watch you don’t.”

The two beys clash again, both fighting hard against each other, until both burst simultaneously, the force scattering the pieces all over the stadium. Akemi immediately grabs his pieces, looking salty.

“So cool…” Ren murmurs. “I want a go.” She takes out Bastet and rubs her thumb over the cool metal and plastic of the chip. “Anyone up for a battle?”

“I’ll take you on.” Suki makes a shooing motion at Akemi, who sticks his tongue out and walks away with his hands behind his head. Ren takes his place, pulling out her launcher and clicking Bastet on to it. Suki quickly puts his pieces back together and loads Andromeda as well.

“Ready? Set.”

Suki narrows his eyes, pinpointing the exact place he wants Andromeda to land. He adjusts his stance accordingly, slanting his launcher slightly.

“3! 2! 1! Go shoot!”

Bastet, spinning clockwise, instantly dives for the center, taking it and waiting for Andromeda to come to it.

“Get it out of there, Andromeda!” Suki shouts, clenching his right hand into a fist.

Andromeda curves up to the very edge of the stadium, then uses the stadium’s slope to increase its speed as it dashes down towards Bastet, blades glittering.

It makes contact but Bastet is hardly affected, swinging around in a small arc before settling again. Suki hisses through his teeth.

_’Damn. Its defense is stronger than I thought.’_

“Again! Comet Shoot!”

Andromeda picks up speed, and Suki knows he won’t get another chance since it already looks like it’s starting to run out of stamina. His bey curves around and heads at Bastet, sparks flying from the tip, and it smashes into Bastet, driving its hits home with its blades.

Bastet reels back, and Suki spots an opportunity. “Andromeda, don’t let it get away! Keep up the pressure!”

Now it’s Ren’s turn to look worried as Andromeda pressures the defense bey, keeping it from getting comfortably settled. “Hang on, Bastet! Just ride it out!”

It’s a battle of Andromeda’s battering ram against Bastet’s iron wall. As the battle drags on, Andromeda slows, wobbling, and soon comes to a complete stop in the stadium as Bastet continues to spin in the middle.

“Yes!” Ren cheers while Suki grabs Andromeda and resets its clicks.

“Again,” Suki growls. “I’m going to beat Bastet this time.”

Ren doesn’t get a chance to respond as the door flies open.

The warmth drains from Ren’s expression. In the doorway are four boys, all of them wearing standard blader gear.

“Chance,” Ren snarls. There’s venom lacing her voice that Suki’s never heard from her before, and he actually takes a step back, a little afraid. “Get out of here.”

“But _Shane_ , I came here to battle. This is a beyblade club, after all. Where else would I go?” Chance, the leader of the four, puts deliberate weight on the name, smirking.

Ren stills for a moment. Then, she aggressively scoops up her bey, her knuckles white from how hard she’s clutching Bastet.

“That’s not my name.” She turns her back on Chance. “If you’re looking for him, you’d better go somewhere else.”

“Oh, I’m the one mistaken am I? What about you pretending to be someone you aren’t?” Ren flinches at the words and Chance grabs his own bey. “Seems to me you’re the one confused.”

Suki steps in. “She’s not called Shane. Anyway, are you here to join the club?”

“Why would I join your stupid club? I just wanted to have a place to test out my beyblade skills. You five seem weak enough to fit the bill, considering one of you is trying to become a girl, and everyone knows girls are worse at blading anyway, as are the ones that practice with them.” Akemi bristles at the direct insult and even Luna and Ara start to look hostile.

Chance snaps his fingers. “You beat me, I’ll scram and you won’t see me anymore. I win, you guys can go ahead and dismantle this useless club because you’ll never get anywhere.”

“Fine.” Ren waves Suki out of the way, her eyes smoldering with golden-orange flames. “Let’s battle then.”

Her tone is hardened steel and as she gets into a launching stance, her aura begins to appear, dusty yellow-brown-gold sand-like particles swirling through the air and glowing with a soft, ethereal light. Chance and his buddies don’t seem to notice, but the other four bladers in the club are watching with surprise as no aura rises from Chance.

Ren’s eyes really are glowing, Suki realizes. And only the beyblade club members can see it.

Chance smirks arrogantly and tilts his launcher while Ren takes a step back, her gaze fixed on the stadium.

“Get ready to give him hell when this is over,” Chance says to his companions, and they all nod. It seems like the jab doesn’t reach Ren though, she’s so focused.

Suki quickly holds out his hand over the stadium. “Ready? Set.”

“3! 2! 1! Go shoot!”

Ren twists her stance at the last moment, giving Bastet a burst of power as it slams into the stadium, spinning counterclockwise. It quickly takes the center while the other bey circles aggressively.

Suki sighs inwardly in relief. Chance doesn’t even have the same launch power as Ren does. She’s on a whole different level - he’s confident she’ll be able to 2-0 him easily.

Chance’s bey circles once more before attacking, but Bastet shrugs off the attacks easily, parrying them with its interlocking claws before Chance’s own offensive power bursts his bey against Bastet.

“Bastet wins with a Burst finish,” Suki calls.

Eyes wide, Chance stares at his bursted bey. Then, his surprise quickly morphs into rage and his expression twists.

“Get him,” he hisses, and the other three boys run at Ren, ready to take her down physically.

In a flash, Suki and Akemi are there, but it doesn’t seem like Ren needs help as she takes down the first boy with a fist to the face, the second with a quick foot in the stomach and the third with an upwards palm that connects with his chin, snapping his head back and sending him sprawling.

“Time to honor your promise and get the hell out,” Ren threatens, smacking a fist against her other palm, and Chance pales. He and his three friends grab their stuff and retreat with their metaphorical tails between their legs, the door to the roof slamming behind them.

Her dusty golden-brown aura is still active, glowing faintly around her, but it quickly dies out as she calms down.

Suki feels a strange sort of tugging at himself, like someone reached their hand through him and is tugging on his heart. He feels a presence stirring in his bey case and he grabs Andromeda, staring at it. It’s pulsing as though it were alive, glimmering with the faintest traces of stardust.

 _Suki…._ a voice whispers in his mind, frail and small like it might be blown away by a gentle breeze.

“What?” he asks aloud, and the other four turn to him.

The voice goes silent. Ren and Akemi are looking at him like he’s gone crazy.

Suki waves them off. “It was nothing. I just thought of something weird.”

“What was it? C’mon, tell us, what did you think?” Akemi asks curiously, trying to nag the answer out of him, but a single look silences the stream of questions.

Ren checks her phone. “We have about an hour and a half left until school closes. Wanna have some practice? I need to get Chance out of my mind.”

She’s met with a chorus of agreements.

* * *

As Luna and Akemi face off, Ren seeks out Suki, who’s busy training with a heavy dumbbell. He hears her approach and turns to face her as she comes closer.

“Hey… thanks for defending me back there, Suki.”

“It wasn’t an issue. That Chance guy was the biggest asshole I’ve ever met, and he had no right to start saying that kind of thing to you.”

“I mean, I guess I just got used to trying to hide my old name and when people found out, everyone was making jokes and insulting me about it. Not that many people have accepted me because of that. You’re one of the few that just went along without trying to ask me personal stuff or anything.”

“Well, it would be pretty rude if I did that. Everyone deserves some privacy.” Suki keeps doing his bicep curls. “If Ara had a big thing going on like that too, I wouldn’t be trying to pry info outta him, even though he’s my twin brother.”

“Well. I just wanted to say thanks. Again now.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

* * *

“So today’s Friday,” Luna says casually.

“Yeah, so?” Akemi replies.

“Do we want to meet up on the weekend? Or any time after school in a different place?”

Ara thinks for a moment before he speaks. “We could meet at the park nearby. There’s a couple stadiums there for bladers. They won’t be super high quality since they’re public stadiums, but that could work for practice on weekends or outside of school.”

“I can bring snacks.” Ren sweeps some stray hairs out of her face.

“Awesome. When’s everyone free this Saturday?”

“13:30-15:00 works for me,” Luna says.

There’s a chorus of muttered agreements.

“Then it’s settled!” Akemi stands up and the rest of them follow. “Tomorrow afternoon at the park. Don’t forget snacks,” he adds to Ren with a playful threat. “Or I’ll suspend you from the club!”

“You wouldn’t do that,” the girl answers confidently. “You need me in the club.”

“Okay, nevermind.” Akemi frowns as she sees right through it. “But we’ll meet up there.”

“Yeah, sounds like a plan. See you guys there!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess how many pages my draft's at? I bet you can't.
> 
> (it's 69. I swear I'm not that immature.)
> 
> chapter summary: Ren gets deadnamed&misgendered by some asshole named chance and his buddies, and then proceeds to beat the shit out of the offenders. The bey club agree on an out of school meeting place.


	5. Bird Fury

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ara has a chat with his bey's spirit and the bey club run into a legend.

_Ara._

Ara gasps, his eyes flying open as he sits up, his sheets pooling around his waist as he looks around wildly.

He's in his room back in America. It has the same plastic glow in the dark star stickers that Suki had insisted he use in his room as well, and its walls are the same comforting shade of soft grey they've always been. Ara blinks, swallowing back a sudden wave of homesickness as his gaze passes over his bookshelves crammed with magazines and Guinness World Records and collection of old watches, time pieces and gears that he could never really explain his fascination with, and his stuffed orca plush that he'd won with Suki's help at an arcade when they were younger.

_Ara._

Ara whips his head around wildly. "Who's there?" he demands.

_Come._

The voice is strangely familiar, but he can't quite put his finger on it...

He swings his legs over the edge of the bed as he peels his blankets back, then stands, his bare feet hardly making any noise on the carpet.

Carefully avoiding the creaky step on the stairs, he descends, following the pull on his soul that tugs him deeper and deeper until he's standing in the doorway of his basement, the door wide open and the stairs descending into a yawning black abyss.

_Come._

Ara nervously starts going down the basement stairs, the already dim light from the sleeping house getting even darker with every step. Soon, he can't even see the door where he came from when he looks back.

The dark presses on him from all sides. It feels like a living thing, squirming into the nooks and crannies of his pajamas, sliding in and out of his lungs like slippery eels every time he breathes, muffling his breaths and footsteps by swallowing up the noise with a starless maw.

It seems to be some great beast, silently watching and waiting.

_Hello, Ara._

"Who are you?" he asks again. The dark swirls and shifts from pitch blackness to deep navy, jet, shades of ebony, soft twilight in response, and in the distance, he can see a single point of light.

_I am Aeternitas. You do not recognize me?_

Ara exhales softly. "We've never talked before."

_You've awakened me._

The light gets closer, and Ara sees it's coming from a necklace hanging delicately around a woman's neck from a thin silver chain.

When she gets close enough to let Ara see the necklace, he gasps.

It's his necklace, or an exact replica of it. It has the same cut topaz, the same silvery metal wings extending to either side. Except the woman's necklace is glowing and pulsing with an inner spark, lighting up the empty space around them with a warm yellow glow.

Ara's hand unconsciously moves to grasp his own necklace's pendant.

"So you are a spirit that resides in my bey?"

_Correct._

He studies the woman more closely - she’s wearing a white dress with the edges wisping off into mist, the bottom part patterned with nonsensical numbers and symbols. Its sleeves come to her elbows, a stark contrast against her ashen skin. A grey ombre scarf is draped around her neck and shoulders, the ends tattered, with Ara’s necklace lookalike peeking out from underneath it. Strapped to her back is a long scythe, the base of the wickedly sharp blade in the shape of a gear. Her eyes are blank and milky, with no pupils visible, but he can tell she’s staring right at him. Her hair is raven-black, long and flowing and loosely gathered into a braid down her back.

“Why’ve you only appeared to me now?”

_I was dormant. Asleep, until something roused me. Something ancient and powerful, a spirit like myself._

Ara thinks back to Ren’s battle, how when her aura had flared up, he’d felt something stirring inside of him. “Bastet? Did the battle where Bastet was active wake you up?”

_Perhaps. I do not know._

He grips his necklace more tightly. “What does this mean for us?”

Aeternitas tilts her head. _I cannot answer that. Only you can._

“Me? But I’m just…” He trails off.

_You are special. You are no longer just like any other blader - you have formed a bond with me. It makes you powerful and potentially dangerous. Our bond is simply the conduit for which this power flows into you. You are the one that must take control of it._

It clicks together. “So everyone else in the bey club has a bond, too? And anyone with a bond has an aura?”

 _I felt Amuratë’s, Luxior’s, Andromeda’s and Bastet’s presences. It would appear they have a bond._ Aeternitas mirrors him and takes the pendant into her fingers. _An aura is a sign of power. Only those with a bond can perceive auras, though there are a select few that have the ability to manipulate their auras to actually affect the real world._

The stranger. The blue aura around them. Suki on the ground, complaining that gravity had somehow worked against him. “I’ve met one of them. A blader with that ability.”

Aeternitas nods. _I’ve seen the encounter in your memories. That is a very powerful blader indeed. Even the memories are tinged with the feel of that power._

She releases the winged pendant and takes a step towards him. _This is the beginning of something,_ Aeternitas says, her voice dry and brittle as she reaches out a hand. _Will you accept this bond between us?_

Ara grabs her hand without hesitation. “Of course.” He clenches his teeth as his palm meets hers and her fingers wrap around him, her hand icy cold like she’s a corpse.

_I will be with you for as long as you wish to remain bonded._

He tries to yank his hand away as the chill creeps into his own arm, his wide eyes meeting Aeternitas’s gaze, feeling like he’s made a terrible mistake. Numbness prickles along his skin as his nerves shut down one by one, but Aeternitas has an iron grip on him.

 _Be careful,_ the spirit whispers to him as the world starts to fold in on itself, dripping out and swirling together like a watercolor painting. The darkness quivers and trembles with harsh, monotone heartbeats that start to ring out, which quickly turn into the ticking of a mechanical clock, each sound dragging and scraping against the next until it becomes a whirling maelstrom of noise and color.

He wakes up, cold sweat beading his forehead.

Ara reaches wildly for his bey case, fumbling with the cover as he grabs Aeternitas. The moment his fingertips touch the bey, it glows bright yellow, and Ara yelps and drops the bey, which falls to the carpet silently and rolls to a stop a couple feet away, still glowing.

Besides him, Suki snores loudly, and Ara jumps.

 _’Right, I have to be careful not to wake up Suki.’_ He checks the digital clock on the bedside drawer. 03:52.

Ara groans, getting down to grab Aeternitas. Its glow slowly fades as he puts it back in its case, eyeing it suspiciously.

A yawn forces his jaw wide open, and Ara wipes away tired tears as they gather in the corner of his eyes. It was already awful that he woke up in the middle of the night, but he’s positive he’s not going to be able to sleep for the rest of the night.

He lies back in bed, determined to try.

* * *

When Suki comes padding into the kitchen, yawning and rubbing his eyes, he spots Ara already there, sitting at the countertop with faint bags under his eyes. His hands are cupped around a mug of warm milk.

“Did you stay awake all last night?” Suki asks, stifling another yawn. “I couldn’t do that.”

“Yeah…” Ara’s head droops. “I, um, don’t think I’ll be able to make it to the weekend meetup today. I better stay back. No need to watch out for two potential sleepers on the job.”

“Right…” Suki stares at the back of Ara’s head, where the bump is still somewhat visible. “Okay. Get some rest. We’ll meet up with the bey club together on Monday.”

* * *

He’s the first to arrive at the park, but it’s also about twenty minutes earlier than they’d planned so he walks over to an empty stadium to get warmed up. His legs and core muscles still ache a little from the workout two days ago, but it’s getting better.

”Go… shoot!” Suki launches, pulling on his cord viciously, and Andromeda flies into the stadium, circling around and around like he’d planned. It’s still not going as fast as he wants it to, though.

A pigeon lands on the edge of the stadium.

Suki frowns at it, trying to shoo it away with a hand.

The pigeon watches him with beady little eyes. It’s a bit unsettling.

“Stupid bird, go on, get outta here!” He walks over to the side of the stadium the pigeon is on and as he gets closer, it skitters a couple steps and then flaps up and away in an almost panicked fashion.

“Rats with wings,” he mutters. “Darn things are everywhere.”

He grabs Andromeda, but then notices the pigeon again, sitting on a ceiling beam of the pavilion that’s keeping the stadiums sheltered from the fierce weather the region gets periodically.

Suki grits his teeth, contemplating throwing Andromeda at it.

It hasn’t pooped or anything yet, so he crouches into his stance again, keeping an eye on it suspiciously.

“Go shoot!”

Andromeda blazes across the stadium, but somehow Suki still isn’t satisfied.

Then the unthinkable happens. The pigeon flutters down while he’s distracted and lands on his _head_. It tries to peck at one of his earrings.

Quick as a snake, he reaches up and grabs it. The pigeon squawks and flaps, but he holds on, shaking it vigorously until it goes limp in his hands, head flopping to one side as its beak opens and closes soundlessly.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” a voice notes.

Suki whips around. There’s a boy standing there, with a white and red jacket and grey shorts, along with white-red running shoes. His hair falls over his left eye, obscuring it, but his right one, a pale lavender color, is wide open and looking at Suki.

Suki is partially worried about how the new kid had snuck up on him and the rest about how many _fuckin_ pigeons are around him, standing on the ground, on the new kid’s shoulders, on nearby benches, on tree branches…

The violet-eyed boy scoffs. “You mean this?” He clutches his captive pigeon fiercely and shakes it a bit more.

It makes a terrified noise and then to his utter surprise and disgust, poops. The disgusting white stuff lands partially on the toe of his boot and partially on the ground.

Suki sees red.

He throws the nasty thing at the ground and it hits with a thud before the pigeon rights itself, flapping and squawking in alarm. All the other pigeons have turned their terrible little soulless gazes towards him.

The next thing he knows, his vision is filled with feathers and angry pigeons.

They’re all over him, pecking and clawing and screeching and Suki yells, throwing his arms up to cover his face as he’s dive-bombed by possible hundreds of the horrible winged vermin, their talons and beaks somehow sharper than he’d expected.

A burning pain flares up just above his eye and Suki starts windmilling his arms, whacking birds left and right. The swarm seems endless, pigeons taking the place of each other as they attack in a cloud of feathers and fury.

Then they’re gone, leaving Suki covered in dozens of shallow scratches and a few loose threads at the edges of his jacket.

And a thin, shallow slice across the end of his left eyebrow, the line starting from dangerously close to his eye and cutting up and away from it.

Suki tries to dust himself off, feathers and dirt particles flying everywhere as he shakes out his jacket and self, looking around for the other boy, but he’s gone.

“I hate pigeons!”

* * *

When the rest of the bey club arrives and sees him in this state, the first thing they do is ask him if he’s okay. Ren magically pulls out a pack of sanitizing wipes and bandaids (did she just keep them on her at all times in case this kind of thing happens?) and begins meticulously cleaning off his scratches to make sure they don’t get infected.

Trying to keep his pride intact, Suki tells them he was battling with someone and his bey had hit him on the face. The rest of the scratches, he insisted, were from when he was attacked by that same blader which he had been battling since he’d won and his opponent had gotten angry.

They all look dubious at the cover story, which is already a glass house with a small hole in it, but they let it slide.

After Ren patches him up, taking extra care with the scratch on his face, she hands him a little pack of what look like cookie bits. He tears the package open and pops one in his mouth, tasting a sweet-spicy flavor as he crunches the snack bits.

She passes them out to everyone else as well and the only one who eats one and then politely refuses the rest is Luna, who probably has a low spicy tolerance.

He’s still panting and gulping down water as the club gather under the pavilion at one of the stadiums.

“We ready to get some good practice in?” Akemi asks, grinning and rolling his neck and shoulders.

“I’m all warmed up already,” Suki declares. “From the battle I had before,” he quickly adds. Ren and Luna both give him a strange look. They’re probably still skeptical of his cover story.

They take turns battling, cheering each other on, booing sometimes and celebrating others, though it’s all in good fun. Suki ends up racking a decent amount of wins but a substantial number of losses as well, but the ratio is pretty well balanced in his opinion so he doesn’t mind.

Ren and Luna have just finished battling, Ren winning with a score of 2-1 when a shadow falls over them.

They turn to face the new person.

He grins at them. “You four are bladers, huh?”

Akemi is the first to recover, going from looking shocked to enthusiastic in an instant once he recognizes the person. “Yeah, yeah we are! You’re Leiderheim Eze, aren’t you? From the Elites!” He claps his hands excitedly. “I’ve been dying to meet you. You’re my favorite Elite! I can’t believe I’m talking to you right now!”

Eze chuckles. “I’ve never had such an avid fan. What’s your name?”

“I’m Konetisu Akemi!”

The rest of them are studying Eze with slightly mystified expressions. He’s the tallest teenager they’ve probably ever seen, towering at least a head or two over them. His frame is thick and sturdy, corded muscle wrapped around a heavyset form and making him seem more menacing. 

The German Elite has piercing green eyes, their depths glittering like emeralds, and has a shirt on that’s probably a size too small, tracing every powerful curve of his chest and abdomen and is mostly obscured by a green and black sports jacket while his blader gear is looped around his waist over black khaki shorts. His case is a metallic green and black, and the handle of his launcher is grey rubber over white plastic as far as they can see.

“You all seem very promising,” Eze says to them. “I’d like to test you myself, if you allow me.”

Akemi’s eyes have literal stars in them. “You mean I’d get to battle you, my all time idol?!” He giggles almost crazily. “Let’s do it!”

The other three club members hastily make room for the massive Elite and Akemi, who looks like he’s about to start getting really hyperactive, bouncing back and forth on the balls of his feet.

Even Luna, who is usually disinterested in the battles, looks a little excited at the prospect of seeing an Elite take one of them on in person.

“Just so you know, Akemi, I won’t be going easy on you even if you’re a newbie,” Eze smiles, flashing a set of pearly whites. “Conquerer Erontonius won’t hesitate to crush you.”

“I didn’t ask you to.” Akemi grins back at Eze, getting into his stance. “I’m not gonna go down without a fight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i guess you could say that pigeon was... scared shitless


	6. Iron Will

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akemi takes on the legendary Elite Eze Leiderheim.

Eze’s launcher gleams as he pulls it out. There’s something about it, though, that seems a bit different than regular ripcord launchers.

Akemi’s eyes widen. “That’s your special Weighted String launcher, isn’t it?”

“You have a knack for spotting details, I see. Yep, it sure is. The one and only!” Eze reaches into his case and takes out something small and silvery, slotting it into the launcher.

 _‘Hmm…’_ Suki takes in the launcher. It doesn’t look very special other than the fact that Eze had put something on it.

Akemi’s grip on his own launcher tightens, his excitement giving way to a clear-headed, careful focus.

“Ready? Set,” Luna calls. He pulls his hand back.

“3! 2! 1!”

At the last second, Akemi angles his launcher sharply downwards.

“Go shoot!”

Amuratë blazes into the stadium as Erontonius lands heavily. Both spin clockwise as one heads to the middle, the other circling, looking for an opportunity. Erontonius provides none.

“Eze is known as the best Defense type blader alongside Elite Malakae,” Ren mutters. “Though he’s surpassed by the current world champion, Ousuke.”

“I heard that!” Eze calls and Ren quickly looks away for a moment. “I might not be as good as Ousuke but I can still pack a punch. Erontonius, Iron Reflection!”

As Amuratë comes in for a fierce attack, it’s rebounded and Erontonius doesn’t even seem affected. However, Amuratë seems to lose some of its stamina, its next attack coming in slower than before.

It clashes against Erontonius’s spikes, but is quickly fended off and it soon comes to a stop.

“Spin finish. One point to Erontonius,” Luna calls.

“An impenetrable defense,” Akemi whispers in awe. “So cool.”

He grabs Amuratë and quickly resets its clicks, loading it up again. “I’m not ready to roll over and give up just yet, though!”

Eze smirks. “I like that attitude.”

“Ready? Set!”

Both bladers tense slightly.

“3! 2! 1! Go shoot!”

This time both beys aim for the center, Amuratë’s lighter weight and tip allowing it to get there first. As Erontonius comes in, Amuratë knocks it back so it can’t settle and use its huge weight to its advantage.

This time, Amuratë seems to be keeping Erontonius’s dangerous spikes at bay using its own sawblades to absorb the knockback from it. Erontonius circles around, unable to get itself into a fully defensive stance without Amuratë’s sawblades keeping it back.

“You caught on fast, squirt! But us defense bladers don’t just sit back and try to let things happen to us. If you want the middle, have it.”

Erontonius is knocked back again, but this time, it leans on the rubber and curves upwards towards the edge of the stadium.

“You’ll know this move too, if you were paying attention to my battles last year! Erontonius, Shatter Cross!”

Akemi pales, watching as Erontonius strikes the stadium wall so hard it almost chips the paint. Then, it’s coming down towards Amuratë in a deadly green and black blur.

“Amuratë, don’t back down! Stygian Counter!”

Akemi’s aura flares up around him for the first time, dark grey and gold and violet, swirling around him in fiery streaks, dancing and burning and hungry. His bey responds in turn, lighting up in flames, its saws spinning quickly as it curves around to meet Erontonius head on.

Erontonius hits like a train and Amuratë only lasts a few seconds before it bursts.

“Burst finish. Eze wins with a score of 3 to nothing.”

The rest of the bey club stare, stunned, at the power of a single Elite. Akemi hadn’t even managed to score a single point against him.

Akemi’s aura winks out and he drops to his hands and knees, panting. “That… that was really something. I’ve never felt like this in a battle before.”

Eze picks up both Erontonius and Amuratë, clicking together the latter’s parts and holding it out to Akemi, who catches his breath as he stands, taking it with a grateful nod.

“Akemi. I think you show a lot of promise. You could go far if you keep working on improving your blading. In fact, I could see you making top four in Japan, at least.”

“That’s… wow, that’s pretty awesome coming from you. You really think I could blade on a national level?”

“That’s right.”

Eze? _The_ Iron Giant himself was praising Akemi of all people? Akemi felt like he might swoon.

Seeing Akemi dazed, Ren quickly grabs him and sits him down on a bench just in case he does pass out.

Suki, meanwhile, approaches Eze with a determined look. Eze is busy inspecting Erontonius for damage, but when he hears Suki, he looks over.

“I know Akemi pointed out your launcher, but I want to get a good look at it. And Erontonius if I can.”

The corner of Eze’s mouth quirks. “You haven’t introduced yourselves. At least you and the other two.”

“I’m Suki, that’s Ren, and that’s Luna,” Suki says impatiently, pointing at each of them in turn. “Can I see your launcher now?”

“Sure. There’s no secret I’m hiding from everyone else in it anyway.”

He tosses it to Suki, who fumbles for a moment before holding it securely. Akemi, who’s snapped out of his awe-struck daze, runs over immediately so he can touch the launcher too.

Suki turns the launcher over and over in his hands. It feels quite a bit heavier than his own, but that’s a given considering how much stronger Eze is than him. It would make sense that Eze would have a heavy launcher custom made for himself.

Still… 

Suki keeps hunting around for the thing he saw Eze slot into the launcher. Finally, he finds a little notch on the launcher. He flicks it back with a finger and a weight slides out, landing in his palm with a heavy thump.

The metal has a number 2 etched into it. Suki weighs it in his hand, confused. He lifts the launcher and instantly the difference becomes apparent, the launcher practically flying upwards.

“That’s a weight I put into my launcher. My default is number two, as you can see there.”

Akemi reverently touches the rectangular weight too.

“So it just makes the launcher heavier? That’s all?”

“I have…” Eze rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. “A tendency to break launchers, let’s say that. This one’s reinforced with metal.”

Suki waves around the weightless launcher again. It does still feel a great deal heavier than his own.

Once he’s satisfied, he slots the weight back in, which locks with a little clicking noise. Handing the launcher back, he takes Erontonius from Eze’s outstretched hand.

The rest of the bey club crowd around to look as well.

“Look at those wicked spikes. No wonder Amuratë was doing so poorly first round,” Ren remarks, feeling the hard rubber spikes around the layer.

“And that tip,” Akemi breathes. “Everything about it is amazing.”

Luna grunts in agreement, not touching the bey and giving Erontonius some respect. His eyes rove over it though, taking in every detail carefully right down to the design of the chip.

“Can I have my bey back now?” Eze asks. Suki places it back in his hand.

Akemi watches it go longingly.

“Thanks.” Eze puts away his stuff. Then he checks his phone. His eyes widen. “U-Uh oh, I’m gonna be late. Right, that’s why I passed by here! I got so sidetracked! Alright, you kiddos keep practicing and make it to the Nationals. I’ll see you all there.” With that, Eze fast-walks away, muttering something about a gift.

Akemi still looks like his head is in the clouds. Ren gives him a little shake every now and then until he seems to be back down to earth.

Suki’s still thinking, turning a mental copy of Erontonius over and over in his head. To make it to the top four nationally, he’d probably have to face off with most if not all the Elites. Eze and Malakae would be the most difficult as the masters of defense types, and he needed to beef up his Comet Shoot or come up with something new before he could get anything done.

Only… his strengths didn’t lie in brute force. That was Ara’s specialty, able to pull off powerful launches and make the most of Aeternitas’s aggressive shape and left-spinning nature. Suki was much more precise, able to pinpoint where he wants his bey to go and how it moves once it gets there.

Maybe he can try to hit at a weak spot? Andromeda didn’t have enough stamina to whittle away at Erontonius’s near perfect defense. If he can find a crack in that defense and drive all of Andromeda’s power against it, Erontonius will fall, he’s sure.

Suki’s hand tightens around Andromeda, which he’d unconsciously grabbed. He looks up and spots Ren, chatting with Akemi about how cool it was to meet an Elite in person.

“Ren,” Suki says suddenly. “Battle with me. Right now.”

She looks a little confused and taken aback by his ferociousness, but nods and takes her place opposite of him at the stadium.

_‘Bastet will be a good substitute. Ren isn’t half bad, but if I can master defeating her bey, I’ll be a step closer to defeating Eze.’_

Akemi runs over to the stadium. “I’ll ref! Ready? Set!”

“3! 2! 1! Go shoot!”

* * *

“You’ll never guess who I ran into today,” Eze remarks as he enters the cafe. “One of my so called biggest fans. Do you remember Konetisu Akemi?”

The only other person there raises his head, looking at Eze. Eze feels himself freeze up a little, blood rising to his cheeks at the sight of the Elite’s face.

Duncan turns in his seat. “I don’t. Did he win any tournaments recently?”

Eze hums. “No, but he came in second last year’s Districts. Poor guy didn’t make it to Nationals though, got beat up by all the bladers in the Regionals. Ghost said that there are two souls that are heading change. I battled Akemi, and he’s much stronger than last year. I even felt the spark of a bond catching fire in him, and I think he might just be one of them.”

“Who else was there?” Duncan takes a sip from his cup.

Eze quickly heads over and sits down opposite of the other Elite. “Couple of kids. Girl called Ren, two boys called Luna and Suki.”

“Any of them fit the bill for the other soul?”

“I’m not sure. I felt for bonds, but I could only detect one strong and two weak. The stronger one was from the girl. I don’t think the other two have awakened yet.”

“So you think all of them have the potential to be the two that Ghost spoke of?”

“Could be. Though Ghost did say change was coming as a whole, and told us two souls were _heading_ the change, not that two souls would dominate. They could all be about the same in terms of power.”

“Mm.” Duncan takes a long sip. “What about the encounter with this Akemi, then?”

Eze props his chin up with a hand. “He was… fanatic, alright. Seemed super excited to meet me, even more than my usual fangirls. He reeked of absolute admiration and awe. It was pretty funny seeing him ogle and gush. He couldn’t score a point against little old me, though.”

“You’re bullying a child two years younger than you that didn’t survive Regionals last year,” Duncan points out.

Eze splutters indignantly. “Okay, well, I have a reputation to maintain!”

The faintest hint of a smile graces Duncan’s lips, and Eze feels his cheeks warm even more. “Anyway,” he forges on, grateful for his voice staying steady, “Amuratë had all the typical weaknesses of balance beys and Akemi hasn’t really gotten the hang of covering them up yet. You know how they are. Kids always think those are the coolest things ever and then get all sad when they’re beaten by another type bey.”

“Mhm.”

“Did you scout anyone?”

Duncan thinks for a moment. “I took note of a few bladers. Kuroko Seiji, and… Zack Thomas.” He says the last name hesitantly like it tastes strange.

“A Ukranian and an American. Typical of you to notice the ultra foreigners.”

“They’re in a team together. It seems they’ve been pressured into joining one Kadokawa Kai’s team.”

“Well that just sounds unfortunate.” Eze leans forward. “Is that it?”

Duncan sighs. “Yes. I’ve been having terrible luck.”

“Alright, let Ousuke know then. I gotta go.”

“Do what?”

“Scout. Train. Sign autographs. The usual.”

Duncan nods seriously. “Alright. Take care.”

As Eze stands, something tumbles from his pocket. He doesn’t seem to notice, quickly exiting the cafe.

“Eze, wait-” Duncan calls but Eze is already gone.

The Elite goes to pick it up. It’s a little hand-painted cardboard box about the size of Duncan's fists, with a sticky note on it.

On it is the following message:

_Be my boyfriend? :) ☐ Yes ☐ No_

Duncan opens the box. 

Inside are some pieces of his favorite brand of saltwater taffy and a yellow flower that Eze probably picked from some random person’s lawn minutes before entering the cafe.

Duncan puts his face in his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> now kiss!


	7. The Last Star I See Tonight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suki does some reflecting. Andromeda offers him a deal.

When Suki gets back, he tells the still-tired looking Ara all about his encounter with Eze.

It’s mostly him chattering away while he and Ara work on making food for the both of them, with Ara occasionally pausing him to ask for little details.

“-and his bey. It was insanely powerful, I watched him demolish Akemi with it. Erontonius, was it? It’s a defense type that doesn’t pull its punches.”

“What you should expect from an Elite. They aren’t the best in the world for nothing.”

“Well yeah, but my imagination isn’t that good. It’s like… visualising a billion. I didn’t really know how to comprehend his power levels from being an Elite.”

Ara nods. “I suppose that makes sense. We never bladed with a serious or competitive intent.” He flips the pan and shoves the egg and chives around, the food sizzling as it’s moved. For a few minutes there’s silence, only broken by the hiss of heat or the opening and closing of various cabinets, drawers and the refrigerator.

“Suki,” Ara finally says. “District signups opened yesterday. I will be signing up. Will you?”

“Why is that even a question? Of course I will! What else am I supposed to do, sit back while I know everyone else in the club will sign up?”

Ara nods approvingly. “I’ll meet you on the battlefield, then.”

* * *

He’s warm and sated, but not tired. His thoughts are occupied with Eze, and Ara, and the rest of the bey club. He knows only one of them have to win Districts or Regionals to bring a team to Nationals, but he can’t help but feel like dead weight if he isn’t the one to do it. It wouldn’t feel like a real victory, just one that was handed to him.

Suki shifts under the covers, turning to look at Ara who’s in a light sleep, hardly breathing. He can’t stand this anymore, even if it is 3 or 4 in the morning.

He swaps out his sleep shirt and pulls on some boots, his jacket and blader gear, and tiptoes out of the room.

Swiping a key from the counter where he and Ara agreed to keep their keys, he quickly and quietly lets himself out of the apartment. At this time, most if not all of the apartments in the complex have their lights out and their residents are sleeping, safe and sound. Suki quickly crosses the still lit lobby, past the one sleepy attendant at the front desk, and out the doors.

His feet automatically carry him to the bey park, where he makes a beeline for the bey stadiums where he’d watched Akemi battle Eze not 24 hours ago. Suki stands over it, staring down into the worn stadium, imagining the beys there, clashing with each other, sparks flying as Amuratë tries to overcome Erontonius’s defense.

His fist tightens. He _will_ defeat Eze and the other Elites.

Suki grabs his launcher, loading Andromeda and getting into his launching stance.

He doesn’t count himself down. Doesn’t need to, as he yanks the cord back and Andromeda goes flying into the stadium, spinning clockwise lightning quick.

Something in him had broken down while he was watching Akemi and Eze battle, and the feeling rushes back as Andromeda picks up speed in the stadium. He feels a familiar tingle and rush of adrenaline, and unbeknownst to him, his eyes start to glow.

Then the world starts to change. The colors drain out of his surroundings, sharp edges of the faraway trees, bushes, benches all fuzzing. All that he can see is the stadium, clear as day, and Andromeda, glowing purple and pulsing like a heart.

_Hello, Suki._

Suki looks up. Opposite to him is a tall woman. Her dark hair seems to wisp into mist at the ends, but underneath, it has an orange-pink glow to it. Pinpricks of stars glitter among the larger, brighter white shapes of planets.

Her dress is pale and flowing, coming to her ankles. Skin ashen and pale, eyes a solid, blank white, feet bare, she has a regal bearing nonetheless.

But all this becomes irrelevant when Suki sees her necklace. It’s _his_ , with the same diamond-shaped amethyst and outstretched metal wings.

He reaches up to feel for his own and his fingers close over his own pendant.

He's about to ask her who she is when the answer comes unbidden to his mind. A single word, rising from his subconscious until he's sure who the woman is.

“...Andromeda?” he whispers.

_That’s right._

“How are you here?” he asks. “You’re a spirit.”

_I’m not really in the world. If anyone looked at you, they would simply see you gazing into the stadium._

“Ah.” Suki lets go of his necklace. “Why are you here, then?”

_I’m here to offer a contract._

“A contract…? What’s the fine print?”

Andromeda laughs, the sound like the crunching of two asteroids colliding, or the crackle and snapping of cracking ice. _Ever vigilant, little blader. I see. All that is required of you is to accept the ability to channel my power. We will form a bond, and become partners. The fine print is that I will not be responsible if you lose control of the power you receive through our bond._

“Bey spirits can do that?”

_Each contract is slightly different. Some spirits want to devour the soul of its blader through the bond. Others simply wish for a companion to share their power with. I am one such of the latter spirits._

Suki grinds his teeth. “Can I beat Eze or the other Elites without your power?”

_I don't know. However, I will tell you this: All of the Elites have bonds. They have the ability to form them, and they decided to do so with their beys. It certainly will hurt if you decline this contract. I won’t ask you again if you say no._

It doesn’t take much more persuasion from Andromeda. “I’ll accept the contract.”

 _Good._ A fierce gust of wind kicks up, swirling around them. The pale monotone of the background darkens as what looks like ink is poured down from the sky, dyeing everything a deep blue-black. Stars and planets and galaxies swirls into sight, each bursting into existence and then winking out almost immediately, a thousand births and deaths happening simultaneously. Space shifts around Suki as Andromeda closes the distance between them, stepping into the stadium which ripples and becomes as dark as the rest of the space.

Andromeda smiles, offering her hand. Suki grasps it firmly.

Her skin _burns_. Heat sears Suki’s palm and finger pads and he tries to pull away, but Andromeda has him firmly trapped in her grip.

It feels like he’s being consumed by fire, scorching heat racing up Suki’s arm and he thinks his hand’s flesh might be darkening, skin curling into fine black ash that scatters into the space and brightens into new stars.

Suki screams.

* * *

Ara skids to a stop where Suki is curled up by a stadium, Andromeda lying still in the stadium’s center. As he grabs Andromeda, it bursts in his hand.

Suki is wreathed in the telltale glow of an aura, dark purple and blue and glittering with distant stars. His breathing is fast and uneven, eyes squeezed shut as tears slowly gather at the corners of his eyes and roll down the sides of his face.

Grimacing, Ara grabs him and slaps his face. Suki’s head lolls to the side. When his eyes open, they’re a solid violet, sparks swirling in their depths.

“Suki,” Ara hisses. “You have to wake up. Get out of there.”

He slaps Suki’s other cheek harshly, and the sparks wink out, as does the aura. Suki blinks once, twice, and then his eyes are normal again, with their plain white sclera and soft violet irises.

His breathing is still coming in fast, harsh pants, and Ara stays crouched with him by the stadium, one arm wrapped around him protectively, until he calms down.

“Ara… I feel like I’ve made a huge mistake,” Suki mumbles against his twin’s shoulder. “Andromeda offered me a contract. I took it.”

“Aeternitas asked me as well,” Ara admits. “But whether it’s a mistake to agree, that will be determined in the future. All you can do right now is to train up and prepare yourself, since you already agreed.”

“Mm.”

It’s safe to say neither of them get much sleep that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha uh oh season 1 rewrite here i come


	8. Of Bladers and Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The bey club add someone else to their roster. Signups for Districts open.

When Suki arrives at the roof on Monday with Ara on his heels, he's surprised to see someone he doesn't recognize there.

The new person is a pale-skinned girl about a couple years older than him with white and blue blader gear. She's got a grey-white shirt and a greyish blue jacket over it, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, long pants with a white to blue ombre and black running shoes with white soles. Her hair is dyed steel grey, flowing in graceful waves down to a little past her shoulder blades, the ends steel blue. She’s built like a dancer, all long legs and graceful movements as she paces.

She's also speaking to Ren and Akemi while Luna naps as usual.

As the twins approach, she turns to look at them.

"Suki, Ara. This is Hanako, going by Hana for short. She wants to join the club."

Hana waves shyly. "Hi! I'm not that good at blading, but I hope I can get better after joining this club." She curls inwards on herself a little, as if unsure of herself despite being the oldest.

Suki extends a hand. "I'm Suki, that's Ara, my twin brother."

Hana shakes. Her grip is a little weak for a blader.

"My first tip for you is to improve your raw strength," Suki tells her. "To be a good blader you have to be strong so you can make good launches."

Hana nods, hanging on to every single word he says.

"I'm feeling kinda behind," she says, casting her eyes down. "Don't most kids start blading pretty early on? I kinda only started a couple months ago."

"Age has nothing to do with skill," Akemi reassures firmly. "Don't worry about being older. You can still get better."

She nods again gratefully.

"Mind showing us your bey? We can have a couple battles to determine how to best get you up to speed," Ren suggests. Hana does, taking out her bey from her case and holding it up for the rest of them to see.

"This is Halogen Hippogriff," Hana explains. "I made it with the help of an expert bey trainer. At least that is what he called himself."

Suki snorts. The trainer must have a pretty big ego. He examines the bey some more. It's a right spinning Stamina layer, like Luxior.

"Let's have you up against Ren first," Akemi suggests. "She knows how to hold back, and she has a defense type so it'll be good for practicing."

"Hey," Ren interjects. "Just so you dummies all know, I'm not the weakest blader here."

"Okay! Okay, I just suggested you because it's pretty hard to control aggressive beys like ours, and we could just end up rolling Hana without teaching her anything."

Ren grudgingly accepts this explanation and takes Hana over to the stadium, where she takes her stance. Hana awkwardly tries to copy her and Suki bites back the urge to laugh. He knows it's mean since she's a newbie, but he can't help it - Hana is all gangly limbs and strange angles, and she looks more than a little uncomfortable.

He goes over and starts pointing out how she can adjust, and as they run her through the fundamentals of blading, she gradually looks more confident.

"Go… shoot!" Ren sends Bastet flying into the stadium, where it quickly claims the center. "Now you try taking it down," she says to Hana, who looks a little nervous but determined.

She counts herself down. "3, 2, 1, go shoot!"

Hippogriff lands in the stadium with an awkward wobble, and it only manages to tap against Bastet twice before coming to a stop.

"Aw… I messed up." Hana grabs Hippogriff and stares mournfully at it.

"Don't give up just yet," Akemi says encouragingly to her. "Keep trying until you get a good launch in!"

She nods, determination filling her. “Okay.”

Hana keeps launching, over and over again, with Hippogriff spinning out every time before even leaving something close to a dent in Bastet.

After her twentieth try, she collapses to her knees, panting heavily. “This is so much harder than all the battles on TV made it look,” she says. “For real, how do they do it?”

“Continuous training. They just keep going at it until it’s easy.” Ren grins at Hana, offering her a hand, which she takes gratefully. “Don’t worry. We’ll help you out until you can start training on your own.”

“Thanks, all of you,” Hana says, smiling widely. “At least I know how to launch properly now.”

“You’ve still got a ways to go, though,” Akemi teases. “You won’t survive Nationals if we get there.”

Hana’s eyes widen. “How do I get to a national level?”

“Hard work!” Ren, Akemi and Suki chorus together, with Ara shaking his head at how in sync they all are.

“Better get back to those launches,” Ren advises, and Hana quickly loads Hippogriff again.

* * *

The six of them are standing outside the Districts building. This is where it all begins, when they sign up for District tournaments. Then, they’ll begin their uphill climb to the top.

Suki opens the door and they all file in.

The inside isn’t too crowded, but there is a long line of bladers at the booth to sign up. Though, it doesn’t take long for it to be their turn to sign up. Suki quickly scans his launcher and bey, then takes his profile picture.

The process repeats for the rest of them, and then it’s done. The deal is sealed - all six of them will try their hardest until they all meet at the top and it’s time to face off against each other and the rest of the best bladers in the world.

“That was a lot less stressful than I thought it would be,” Akemi remarks when they get back outside. “Almost too simple.”

“We just wait for tomorrow, when sign up closes and they announce the first round bladers. Then, one of us wins the districts and the rest try for Regionals.”

“District tournaments don’t take more than a week,” Ren pipes up. “They’re really fast. Good for weeding out the ones that really don’t belong in Nationals.”

“Well, I’ll belong,” Hana says fiercely. “I’ll work hard to get there.” She looks around, and meets the gaze of every other blader in the club, who nod in return. All of them belong. All of them have trained hard the past few days, and they’ll keep training to prove themselves.

For a moment, when Suki looks into Hana’s eyes, there’s a flash of something hard, the feeling that he’s not looking at someone who’s just determined, but driven by something with an edge sharper and harder than steel.

Hana doesn’t have a bond yet, but if she did make one, he gets the feeling she could be pretty powerful with more training.

“Let’s go to the bey park and practice, then. We need to all the training we can get before the tournament starts.”

The agreements are unanimous, and they all head off to the park to prepare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that name sounds familiar o-o


	9. One Step at a Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first round of the Districts tournament commences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a double update???? well don't let me stop you. go on.

“Welcome, boys and girls, to this year’s annual District Tournament!” the announcer says over his mic. “We’re glad to be hosting yet another one right here in our beloved Districts stadium for all of your viewing pleasures! Let’s first introduce all of our contestants! But don’t go anywhere, because we’re also having our first round of battles today!”

He starts listing out the bladers that have signed up, and Suki tunes him out. He looks over and sees the rest of the club in a similar fashion - Hana is looking at her phone, Ren and Akemi are in a tense finger game, Ara is off to the side looking half asleep, and Luna is actually asleep.

Suki is abruptly dragged back, though, when the announcer shouts, “Tsuchiya Suki and Tsuchiya Ara! Twin bladers with the beys Andromeda and Aeternitas, respectively! It’ll be a tense battle if both reach the finals!” The announcer gives an awkward chuckle. “Though, they’re both new! So only time will tell if they make it!”

Suki glances up and sees his face as well as Andromeda up on the big screen, right above Ara’s portrait and Aeternitas.

He does a double take when he sees that his scratch from the pigeon encounter has been even more contrasted from his pale skin as a result of the mediocre quality of the camera. He’d almost forgotten it existed, since it was almost healed. Though, at least it looks less like an injury from a pigeon than something from a badass battle.

The announcer keeps going, also mentioning the rest of the bey club, and then the first round’s battles are put up on screen. All of the club members are in separate brackets, facing off against almost complete strangers the first and probably second round.

The starting battle is between two kids that Suki doesn’t recognize and he tunes out again.

A little while later, Ara gets up and walks out, along with Akemi. Suki looks up and realizes their battles are after the next battle. They must be going to the back rooms, he reasons.

This District tournament has been boring so far. Nobody has had an aura yet, and if there were any, they didn’t stand out particularly well in terms of power.

The previous battle’s winner, a bratty kid called Shinji, cheers and waves his arms around, then mocks his opponent with something Suki doesn’t catch, but can guess at judging from the loser’s expression. Suki curls his lip. Shinji isn’t bad at blading, but he’s certainly not extraordinary. There’s no reason for him to act like an asshole.

“And next up… we have the newbie blader Ara! Facing him is a more familiar blader- er, that is, if you were paying attention to last year’s semifinals! Give it up for Riku!”

The doors slide up and Ara steps on stage. The bright spotlights reflect off his metal bracelet and earrings, the links and accessories flashing with every step he takes. He stops in front of the stadium, directly across from Riku, who has large glasses and brown hair slicked back messily.

“Oh, you’re new?” Riku smirks. “This’ll be over quickly. I’ll wipe the floor with you.”

Ara doesn’t respond, instead taking out his launcher and loading Aeternitas, not even giving Riku a cursory glance.

“Too scared to talk?” his opponent taunts, but when Ara still fails to rise to the bait, he huffs angrily and loads his own bey.

“Bladers ready? Set!” The ref pulls his arm back.

“3! 2! 1! Go shoot!” the crowd chants, and both Riku and Ara let their beys fly.

Aeternitas instantly zeroes in on Riku’s bey and smashes it to pieces right in front of his eyes.

“Aeternitas with a Burst finish. Ara wins with a score of 2-0.”

The crowd quiets, stunned.

Finally the announcer says shakily, “Well! That was a fast battle! Seems like not all new bladers will be so easy to push over! We’ll just progress to the next one, then!”

Ara grabs Aeternitas, and without so much of a backwards glance at Riku, walks off the stage.

Riku is quickly ushered off the stage as Akemi and his opponent enter.

“Next, we have… oh? An old competitor! This fiery blader owns Amuratë, known for its saw blades’ deadliness! His opponent is Sorei, another new blader! Will the trend continue? Let’s find out!”

Akemi doesn’t take long to burst his opponent’s bey, either, leaving yet another stunned silence in his wake as he exits.

When the two bey club members come back, Ren, Hana and Suki are there to congratulate them. Ara smiles and waves away the praise, retreating to his corner, while Akemi puffs out his chest and struts around like a peacock, a smug grin on his face.

“Okay, boys and girls! We’ll take a brief recess, and then continue on with the tournament! Make sure to be back in ten minutes, or you’ll miss the action! Meanwhile, here are our next matchups!”

Suki and the others minus Luna and Ara crowd the railing of the second floor, staring at the screen. He spots his own name a few slots down, right above Luna’s. Hana’s is farther down, and Ren is the second to last battle of the day.

Ren sighs when she notices where she’s at. “I think I’m going to take a nap. Wake me up when it’s my turn.” She heads over to Luna, waking him with a quick shake and a whispered “Your battle is coming up soon.”

Luna comes over to them, still a bit groggy. “Where’m I? ...oh, okay. I’ll stay awake.”

The break passes and the battles resume. Bladers win and lose until Suki notices he’s next in the queue. He grabs Luna’s arm and the both of of them head to the back rooms to prepare.

“You doing okay? You seem a bit more tired than usual,” Suki says to Luna, who shakes his head.

“I’m fine. Just have to manage my emotions and I won’t keel over on the stage snoring.”

Suki pats him on the back, then heads over to the doors. He hears the telltale roar of the crowd and the announcer yelling about the battle being ‘fierce’ and ‘explosive’, and then a moment as people quiet and the other bladers move off the stage.

“Introducing Suki! The counterpart to the other newbie, Ara! Let’s see if he can pull off the same destructive performance against his opponent!”

The doors open, and smoke hisses as it spills from special vents. Suki steps out into the light, squinting slightly from the brightness of them.

He strides to the stadium, Andromeda burning in his case, and he takes it out, loading it on to his launcher.

His opponent is saying something, but Suki tunes his words out, instead focusing on his battle plan. He’ll launch towards the edge of the stadium and use the momentum to burst his opponent as it circles on the other side. His fingers tighten on his launcher.

The countdown begins. At "shoot," Suki thrusts his launcher forward, yanking the cord back. Andromeda lands in the exact spot, and just as he’d envisioned, it narrowly skims the stadium wall, and then comes blazing down and across the center. It only takes that single hit for the other bey to be bursted.

“Burst finish for Andromeda. Suki wins with a score of 2-0.”

Suki schools his features into calm on the outside like his brother had, but he’s bursting with giddiness inwardly. It takes all of his self control to grab his bey and walk away instead of cheering and celebrating. He knows it’ll make people think he doesn’t care or he wants to act edgy, but he also doesn’t want to embarrass himself.

Suki gets back to the second floor just in time to catch Luna’s battle. Their teammate is slouched slightly in his usual stance, launcher outstretched.

The crowd and bladers count down together. At “shoot”, Luna launches with an exaggerated turn to the side, and Luxior lands in the stadium in a whirl of colors, instantly claiming the center. It takes a couple hits before his opponent, using an attack type bey, runs out of stamina. The second battle goes about the same, with Luna claiming a second point with another spin finish.

“And the powerful Luna takes this series two to nil! If that’s not a strong performance by a stamina type, I don’t know what is! But let’s not dwell on it, we’ve got more matches to get through folks!”

Luna just barely makes it back to the club before he stumbles. Akemi and Hana quickly rush over and help steady him, and he slumps in their arms, already asleep. Akemi quickly shakes him awake.

“We waiting here for Ren’s battle?” Akemi complains as he helps Luna up. “Boooooring, I’m bored already. There’s no one good in this year’s Districts, at least here.”

“Maybe they got unlucky and were matched to the last couple rounds. Plus, there are District tournaments literally everywhere. If we’re gonna come into contact with any, it’ll be at the Nationals,” Ara points out.

Akemi concedes that point, but keeps grumbling about being bored.

Soon, Hana disappears down to the back rooms. Ren keeps snoring away - there are at least six battles between Hana’s and her’s, and there’s another two before they even reach Hana.

After a mind-numbingly long battle between two stamina types, Hana finally comes on stage. Her opponent, a teal-haired boy with an arrogant expression, steps up to mirror her.

“We have another newbie here with us today!” the announcer calls. “It’s Hanako, and we’re hoping for some stellar performance from her according to the trends we’ve been seeing from the battles. No pressure though, everyone do their best!”

Hana takes her stance. The rest of the bey club crowd the railing to watch her, eagerly hoping their training with her will pay off.

“She’s a little more confident,” Suki notes. “And her stance is way better than before.”

“Crush that guy!” Akemi cheers.

The countdown begins. Both bladers launch, Hippogriff circling in the middle ring as her opponent claims the center.

“Guys…” Ara comes up besides them. “That’s a balance type, and Hana’s going to have a hard time getting it out of the center. Do you think she thought this out?”

Suki grits his teeth. “She’ll figure it out.”

Meanwhile, on the stage, Hana sweeps a hand up. “Griff!” she calls. “Knock it out of there with Razor Wind!”

Griff jolts suddenly, almost instantly changing direction, and clips the other bey. It knocks its opponent off balance, and, seizing the opportunity, Hippogriff circles around slams into its opponent.

The balance type goes flying, landing outside the stadium with a soft clink.

Hana is breathing hard, and she grabs Hippogriff with a determined expression.

“Didn’t expect that…” Akemi mutters. “Did she just make that up on the spot?”

“Never mind that. Second round,” Suki replies. “She still has to score a point.”

Hana and the other blader take their stances again.

“3! 2! 1!”

An aura is forming around Hana, almost invisible, but the rest of the bey club feel the power coming from the bond she’s forming. It’s silvery-grey with streaks of pale blue, seeming like a combination of water and air as it flows fluidly around her.

“Go shoot!”

Hippogriff is glowing as it lands in the stadium, its speed faster than ever as it charges the other bey and instantly knocks it out with a lightning-fast hit.

“Yeah! Attagirl, that’s what we wanna see!” Akemi yells. He cheers and waves as Hana turns to them, beaming brightly as she grabs Hippogriff.

Now only Ren is left. The club members watch the rest of the battles only half-paying attention, until two battles before Ren’s is announced.

At this point she’s already awake, watching alongside them. She gives them a thumbs up before heading down to the back rooms.

A few minutes later Hana is back, a wide smile plastered across her face. "How'd I do?" she asks.

"Great," Suki tells her. "You did pretty good back there."

She joins the others at the railing as they watch a defense type burst an attack type. “I guess all that training paid off.”

“And now for our next bladers!” the announcer thunders. “We have Byren, a talented blader who’s as rough and hardy as a desert cactus! And facing off against her is last year’s semifinalist, Chance!”

“Uh oh,” Luna mutters.

Because sure enough, as the doors slide open, the same arrogant boy from before. Ren realizes it too, and even from the second floor, the rest of the bey club can see her tense up.

“Well if it isn’t the pretender,” Chance sneers as he walks up to the stadium. “I’m going to show you that your win the other day was a fluke. Nothing more.”

Ren doesn’t have her usual warm smile on. Her face is as cold and hard as marble, giving nothing away. Even her voice is chilly as she replies, “Oh, is that so?”

Her opponent shrugs carelessly. “You can hide behind all the lies you want, but in the end, I’m going to take you down so hard you’ll never want to blade again.”

Instead of answering, Ren takes her stance, her gaze dropping from Chance’s smug expression to the stadium. Her aura, as it rises, feels less like the sun on a pleasant day and more like the scorching heat that makes asphalt smoke, the unbearable stifling warmth of a region in drought, the merciless light beating down on withered plants and thirsty animals in the unforgiving desert.

“Chance’s bey is an attack type,” Ara says. “He’s got a clear disadvantage, not to mention the last time they battled, Ren took him out pretty fast. I don’t think it’s been enough time for him to amp up his power levels to hers. Ren will win this one, too.”

“Ready? Set!” the ref calls.

“3! 2! 1! Go shoot!”

Ren pulls her cord back hard, and Bastet slams into the stadium, circling around the outer edge instead of taking the center. “You know what to do, Bastet!” she calls.

Bastet glows as Chance’s bey picks up speed and heads right towards it.

Right as they clash, Bastet takes two hits and then rebounds, arcing away from its attacker. Already, the club can see that Chance’s bey is rapidly losing stamina, starting to wobble as gravity pulls both beys down towards the center in an inevitable collision.

“Bastet! Hold the Line!”

Bastet crashes straight through Chance’s offense and bursts his bey, leaving him looking angry and defeated as the pieces clatter in the stadium.

“Bastet with a Burst Finish. Byren wins with a score of 2-0.”

Chance grabs his bey. With a hissed, “I’ll get my revenge,” he stalks off the stage while Ren walks away, not looking back.

When Ren gets back, she’s back to how she usually is, warm and bright like a ray of sunshine. She casts a disdainful glance towards where Chance had gone. “He isn’t getting his revenge, now or ever. I’ll make sure he can never humiliate me.”

“That’s the spirit,” Hana says. “He seems like an awful person anyway.”

Everyone else nods in agreement.

“We ready to get outta here?” Akemi interjects suddenly. “I’m hungry and bored and the last battle has nobody interesting.”

“Let’s go somewhere and eat out,” Ren suggests. “To celebrate all of us passing round one.”

Ara speaks up. “We could go get pizza from the nearby Pizza Slice.”

“Why not? I haven’t had some good, filling American-style food in a while. I also have a coupon for 50% off.” Hana shows them the digital coupon.

“It’s settled, then.” Luna starts walking, and the rest of the bey club follow him out the entrance. “To Pizza Slice we go.”

* * *

The place isn’t packed with people, so it’s easy for the six of them to grab a table. Ara stays back to keep the table marked clearly as claimed, and he’s not picky - he trusts Suki to grab him something he likes.

The rest of them crowd the plastic of the display window, mouths watering from just seeing and smelling the food behind it. When Akemi suggest pineapple on pizza, Suki and Ren stare at him in suspicion while Hana defends him, exclaiming it tastes perfectly good. Luna watches them argue and tells them he doesn’t care whether they get it or not.

They settle, finally, on a large pizza with half all-meat toppings, to satisfy Suki and Ren, and the other with various different ones, including pineapple.

As Hana pays using a card Akemi doesn’t remember her having before and her coupon, the rest of the club head back over to their table. Ara looks up from his phone, putting it away as Ren slides into the seat across, Akemi to her left, Luna a seat farther and Suki right next to his brother.

"So. We've completed our first step to Nationals," Suki says. "We think we can make it past Regionals?"

"Are you kidding?" Ren stares at him. "Of course we are! There's no room for doubt."

"Regionals are exclusively for invited bladers," Luna tells them. "Mostly semifinalists and any exceptional bladers from Districts that are chosen by… well, not sure. I just know that they're very accurate in sending out those invites."

He nudges Akemi. "I was there when Akemi received an invite. Akemi, wanna tell the others about your experiences? It might help prepare them."

Akemi flushes in sudden embarrassment. "I, uh. Well. Let's see… where do I start? Um, I got an invitation, I went to battle in the Regionals, and, uh…" His face reddens more. "I got knocked out first round. Regional bladers, well, uh, well they don't mess around."

Everyone stifles a chuckle and Akemi sinks down in his seat. "So much for being cool and awesome," Suki teases gently.

"It's been a year! I've gotten better!" the boy protests, sinking down even more.

"Careful," Ren tells him seriously, "don't let your booster seat fall down farther."

Even Ara can't resist smiling as Akemi burns, his mouth opening and closing wordlessly. Casting them all a petulant look, he crosses his arms and turns away.

He's saved from further teasing, though, by Hana arriving with the pizza they ordered. She sets the stand down in the middle of the table, grinning.

Hana motions her hand towards it. "Eat."

The club attack the pizza with the ferociousness of a starving pride of lions, each instantly grabbing a slice and wolfing it down, relishing the gooey cheese and the grease, until there's just the single, most coveted slice left. And Suki and Akemi still have space for more.

A single glance at each other and they’re both instantly butting heads.

"It's _mine_ ," Suki hisses and immediately reaches for the pizza, but Akemi is already swatting his hand aside.

“You’ll never have it as long as I’m here!” Akemi’s grubby little fingers close on air, and both of them look in surprise as Luna chews on the slice, and the last of it disappears into his mouth.

“HEY!” Suki and Akemi shout in unison, then look back at each other.

“You guys weren’t paying attention,” Luna offers. “So I ate it.”

Hana snorts and then turns it into an awkward cough when all three look at her.

The matter is soon forgotten as Akemi starts recounting his match earlier in the day, making sure to exaggerate his bey’s power and abilities while somehow lacking the important attributes of his opponent, and although everyone knows it’s probably at least sixty percent stuff that Akemi just made up, they nod when he tells them something that seems important, and add on with celebratory remarks when he describes his amazing victory.

When the club finally finish up and head outside, the sun is low in the sky, the lower curve of it already skimming the horizon and obscured by the tips of trees.

“So,” Ren says. “Cheers to our first steps to the world stage.”

She holds out her hand. The other club members reach out and put their left hand on hers, and look at each other in turn solemnly.

“To the top!” they say simultaneously, and raise their hands to the air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm a big pro pineapple pizza person and all you haters can wrestle my pineapple out of my cold, dead hands >:(


	10. And Then There Was An Unprecedented Problem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Round 2 of the Districts commences. Things happens to Suki.

Day two goes about in a similar fashion, but taking far less time. This time, the matches are shuffled and Ara and Ren are paired up for the very first battle.

Out of the corner of his eye, Suki sees Ara stare at Ren, and he can almost feel the gears turning in his brother’s mind as he studies Ren, the girl leaning over the railing of their usual space on the second floor, opting to keep looking at the screen instead of returning the favor to Ara.

Nobody else is unfortunate enough to be paired with each other.

The announcer shouts something about being ready, and Ren and Ara head down to the back rooms. Soon, they’re called up, and both bladers walk to the stadium, serious expressions fixed in place.

Ren says something to Ara that Suki can’t catch from his spot, but Ara nods in return, and both bladers take their stances.

“Ready? Set!” The ref pulls back his arm, and both Ren and Ara tense.

“3! 2! 1! Go shoot!” the crowd chants, and Bastet and Aeternitas are unleashed into the stadium.

Aeternitas immediately goes for the center, sparks flying from its tip as it curves around, and Bastet crashes into it. Both beys are sent flying backwards, neither willing to give any ground as they clash again and again.

Bastet is spinning counterclockwise. A wise choice by Ren, since Aeternitas is also left-spinning, and Suki feels a little apprehensive for his brother for the first time. He has faith that Ara can pull through, but Ren won’t go down without a fight, and Ara won’t get away spotless.

Aeternitas curves around and slams into Bastet, sending them circling again. Ara is staring intently at the stadium. Suki realizes what he’s trying to do - if Bastet is allowed to claim the center, it’s all over for Ara.

“Push it back!” Ara yells, sweeping his hand to the side. “Eternity Warp!” His aura explodes to life around him, ribbons of silver and yellow swirling around him alongside strings of nonsensical symbols and numbers, and it feels like the seconds drag into minutes as Aeternitas, shedding silvery-yellow sparks, charges at Bastet.

“Not so fast. Hold the Line!” Ren’s aura blazes up, and Bastet responds in turn, glowing orange-gold, its aura roiling around it in a rush of blazing magic like a protective shield.

The two beys meet in the middle, each fighting hard to claim its ground, and slowly but surely, Aeternitas’s stamina is sapped away. Bastet weakens too, but far less as the blows exchanged are spread along its claws, and as they rebound, Aeternitas wobbles.

“Would you look at that! Ara finally looks to be going against someone who’s pushing his limits! Will this blader who looked so impressive in the first round finally meet his match!?”

“Don’t let it get away!” Ara snarls, well aware of Aeternitas losing steam. He needs to make this quick.

“Stay away!” Ren calls, and Bastet just barely dodges Aeternitas’s attack as it cuts across the middle of the stadium. The two beys are locked in a deadly game of tag, with Bastet retreating from Aeternitas.

Ren doesn’t have to wait long before gravity drags Aeternitas down towards the center, its ruthless grip on the bey forcing its tip to scrape heavily against the stadium and eventually, the friction catches up with its spin, and Aeternitas topples over and lies motionless.

“Spin finish. One point to Bastet.”

“WOW! What an amazing opening battle we’ve got here, folks! Ren is ahead by one point, but maybe Ara can take this series with a reverse sweep of two one point finishes in a row, or a single burst! The score can swing to either side, fellas, so don’t tune out now!” The announcer is leaning far over his booth, making exaggerated gestures, his microphone held in a tight grip despite his movements to keep it from falling down and giving someone underneath a concussion. “Now on to round two!”

Suki clenches his fist. “C’mon, Ara…” he mutters. “You got this.”

Ara grabs his bey, and as he and Ren load, he actually _smiles_ at Ren, who grins back.

They exchange what Suki assumes to be more banter, and then take their stances.

This time, Ara looks a little different, his launcher tilted slightly, his entire body turned more to the side, his crouch deeper than usual.

Ren notices too, but doesn’t adjust her own launch position.

“Ready? Set!”

Ara’s eyes alight with pale yellow.

“3! 2! 1! Go shoot!”

Ara shifts forward, and yanks his ripcord back. Aeternitas shoots into the stadium, instantly going on the offensive towards Bastet, who’s… not aimed to the center?

Aeternitas dips downwards, carving its way across the middle as a shortcut and zeroes in on Bastet. It slams into Bastet from below, and Bastet is sent reeling.

Straight towards the stadium wall.

It hits hard, then to everyone’s dismay, instantly ricochets off, its speed faster than ever as it barrels down the slope towards Aeternitas.

“Aeternitas!”

Ara’s aura is fanned from sparks into a flame, reaching up and out to circle his body like before, long strings of light and symbols glowing brightly. Then, Aeternitas’s spirit emerges in a magnificent spray of pale yellow and silver.

The other bey club members gape as Aeternitas brandishes her scythe, the symbols on her dress glowing.

Ren isn’t to be outdone, however. “Bastet!” she cries, and in a blast of glittering sand, the spirit is summoned, the cat-headed goddess wielding a long, curved knife with eight others floating behind her, forming a semicircle like a halo around her. The audience can’t hear them shriek and snarl, but the weight of their presence is enough for even the cheering non-bladers to quiet as the two beys speed towards each other.

“Burst it with Eternal Warp!”

“Choke it off! Dust Blaze!”

Bastet’s knife meets Aeternitas’s scythe as the beys battle furiously in the stadium. Their bladers are locked in a battle of wills with each other, both wanting to win and pushing that desire and passion as much as they possibly can.

With a crash, both beys are knocked into the air. Bastet hangs on for a moment before the bey bursts, Aeternitas receiving the same fate just a second later.

Both beys’ pieces clatter down to the ground and Ren sinks to one knee, breathing heavily.

“Who won?” they ask simultaneously, turning to the ref, who looks deep in thought.

After a moment, he decisively says, “Aeternitas with a burst finish. Ara wins with a score of 2-1.”

Ara stands there, chest heaving as he sucks in deep lungfuls of air. He bends over to grab Aeternitas’s pieces and clicks them together as Ren does the same for her bey.

Then, he walks around the stadium, stopping in front of Ren. The crowd quiets as he holds out a hand.

Ren reaches out and grabs it, and he pulls her up to her feet.

They’re both smiling, and Suki hears when Ara says, “Good battle.”

“You too,” Ren answers, her voice ringing out. “That was fun.”

Ara nods, then turns and walks off the stage as Ren exits as well.

Both of them return to the club’s viewing area, Ara with his usual calm and Ren a bit more subdued than usual, but not vengeful or particularly sad. She must have keenly felt her chapter of the Districts closing on her.

Suki’s own battle is a couple battles later, with the same snotty Shinji kid he’d seen the first round. The rest of their battles are with complete strangers that he hadn’t bothered to pay attention to, so he has complete faith in the other members of the club to advance to the third round.

It won’t take long for this round to end - the number of participants has already reduced to half of what it was, Ren included in the cut. With round 3 chopping the numbers down even lower, it’s likely that round 3’s battles will involve at least one battle pitting some of the club against their own teammates.

Suki sees his profile appear in the queue, and heads down to the back room, with the other members giving him some quick good lucks before he goes.

The room’s walls are white and bare, and Suki grabs a paper cone from the water dispenser and fills it up, downing the water in a single big gulp. The lights on that stage get hot, and he’s bound to start sweating from the match anyway.

He stares at the cup, contemplating drinking more, then refills it again and gulps that down, too. He finds his hands shaking slightly and frowns at them.

Suki isn’t nervous about beating his opponent. His battle with Shinji will be a breeze, from what he’s seen of the arrogant blader. No… he’s concerned that his power isn’t growing as fast as Ara’s.

Although his battle with Ren had been close, Ara’s clearly surpassed him. He doesn’t know if he’d be able to win against Ren had it been him against her. And Aeternitas appearing… is he strong enough to call up a manifestation of his spirit in the real world during battle? What if he wasn’t able to?

_‘Maybe Ara only could because he’d been pushed to the brink by Ren,’_ a small voice suggests inside of him.

The thought only makes him feel worse. He knows Shinji is nowhere near his level. There’s no way he’s learning to summon Andromeda in this battle. And with Ara already having the ability to manifest Aeternitas, he’ll only get stronger from here.

Suki clenches his fist. It’s only now occurred to him that he won’t just have the Elites to deal with. He’ll have to challenge the already formidable bey club members and his own brother first.

And he’ll have to win.

Suki’s aura burns to life slowly around him, and he feels Andromeda emit a pulse of power from in his bey case. He takes it out, staring at Andromeda’s insignia, forever imprinted on his bey’s chip.

_I am at your side always,_ Andromeda whispers to him. _I will lend my power to you whenever you ask until the day you end the contract._

When Suki raises his head, hearing the roar of the crowd outside as someone wins their battle, he stands, his eyes burning with a fierce purple glow.

Andromeda’s ghostly fingers seem to grip his shoulder, driving him on as the announcer shouts Suki’s name, and the door slides open.

From the smoke he emerges like a wraith, translucent energy weaving around him even though he’s not in battle. Shinji doesn’t see it, he knows that much. He’s too busy showing off for the crowd.

Suki steps up to the stadium, pulling out his launcher. He won’t take long to defeat Shinji. There are stronger opponents to pit himself against.

“Ready? Set.”

“3! 2! 1! Go shoot!”

As soon as the tip grazes the stadium floor, Andromeda is off like a comet, leaving a jagged violet and navy trail behind it as it chases down Shinji’s bey, tossing it up into the air with a vicious uppercut and bursting it.

“Andromeda with a burst finish. Suki wins 2-0.”

Shinji’s gasp is drowned out by the crowd’s roar as the noise levels surge upwards suddenly, deafening Suki, its levels only matched by the pounding in his ears. All Suki can feel is Andromeda’s hand on his shoulder, and the power radiating from the bey itself as it zooms around its bursted opponent.

He leans down and grabs it, looking at it. The stars on its chip are glowing gently, pulsating and blinking at him in an almost hypnotic fashion. As he rubs his eyes, the glow fades. He sways on his feet.

Suki feels lightheaded and dizzy as Andromeda’s power drains out of him. He barely makes it off the stage and past the audience before his legs buckle under him and his vision spins, quickly replaced by the ground rushing towards him. Then everything fades to black.

* * *

The bey club watch, horrified, as Suki stumbles, and Ren and Ara are off like shots, Ren skipping down the stairs three at a time perilously while Ara hops on the railing and slides down. Both reach Suki a moment after he collapses, and they roll him on to his back. Ren sticks two fingers under his jaw to feel for a pulse.

“He’s breathing and his pulse is normal,” Ren says breathlessly as the rest of the bey club hurry down to gather around the unconscious Suki. “He’ll be fine… I think. I’ve never seen anyone do this after a bey battle.”

Ara frowns. He touches Suki’s forehead. “I thought this was an easy battle for him, isn’t it? Shinji never stood a chance, yet Suki exerted all of the power he had to defeat him.”

“Me and Ara will take him somewhere safe,” Ren tells the rest of the club. “You guys have to stay here for your battles. We’ll be in contact later to let you guys know how Suki is doing, okay?”

Luna, Akemi and Hana all nod seriously. The three of them opt to go back to their viewing spot while Ren heaves Suki up on her back, piggyback style, and Ara steadies him. They leave the Districts tournament building quickly and quietly with the distracted crowd none the wiser.

Outside, it’s blindingly bright, even more than the stage lights, after being in the darkened building for so long. Ren and Ara have to squint for a few minutes before their eyes adjust, and they start heading back to the twins’ apartment.

“So,” Ren starts after a little bit of awkward silence. “You won today’s match.”

Ara hums neutrally. “I did, yes.”

“Did you think about what will happen if you and him make it to the finals?”

“Hm. Not really. I suppose we’ll only get to see when we reach the finals.”

Ren gives a frustrated noise. “I mean yeah, but like… do you think you or him is stronger?”

“I don’t know. Our strengths lie in different areas. Suki is good at precise launches and party tricks, but my raw launching power far eclipses his. If it came down to a head-on battle, I think I have the advantage. If he were to come up with some clever strategy that didn’t involve a direct challenge with such a power imbalance, victory would be more inclined in his favor.”

“I mean… you guys are so close. You’re twins. Shouldn’t you have a good knowledge of his weaknesses, and vice versa?”

“That would make battling each other harder,” Ara agrees. “But in the end, he and I do not share one mind. He is predictable until a certain level, and I am the same. There’s no telling what will really happen if we battle each other with not just the intent to get better, but to win.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

Suki’s head lolls to the side and Ara quickly readjusts him so he won’t develop a crook in his neck. “Who will you root for? I’m curious.”

Ren is quiet for a moment. “I’d be fine with any of you winning.”

“Really.” Ara stares at her out of the corner of his eyes. “So you aren’t biased towards me or Suki?”

“I guess not. You’re both pretty likeable people, is what I mean. I’m not wishing one of you will lose. I like talking to the both of you, I like being around you guys, ya know.”

“Interesting.” Ara returns his gaze to in front of him. “So, are you… interested in one of us?”

Ren balks. “What? No! I’m cool being friends!” She looks over at Ara and he has a faint smile on his lips.

“That’s good. I don’t mean it to be an insult, but I’m not interested in being more than friends, either.”

“I didn’t think it was.” Ren keeps walking, but her cheeks are stained with a light blush. “So… am I just not your type?”

It’s Ara’s turn to look embarrassed. “...no. I’m just… I don’t want to be intimate with girls. It’s unthinkable to me.”

“So you like boys?”

Ara shakes his head. “No. I don’t feel like getting into a thing with anyone, really.”

“Huh.”

“Is that strange?”

“Oh, no. I had a friend like that back in Cairo. Didn’t want to be in a relationship with anyone, boy or girl or otherwise. He went off to college with relations between him and his parents strained because he wouldn’t agree to take a partner. Not sure how he’s doing now.”

“Ah, so there are other people who also feel like this?”

“Chances are there’s always someone else who feels like what you feel like.”

“Your case is rare,” Ara says to her. “I’ve not met another who wanted to be something else than what body they had. Though, I’m not saying you really are the only one,” he adds as an afterthought. “No offense.”

Ren shrugs. “None taken. We’re not exactly a majority. I used to think I was a freak because I wanted to be a girl and nobody else in my school felt the same way about themselves. Anyone who thought I was weird told me what they thought pretty rudely, and it felt awful. Now I just ignore what everyone else says, because what do they know? They’re not me.”

“Mm. Ignore people. Solid advice.”

“I know, right? But sometimes they end up even doing things like try to get me expelled just because I don’t want to be a boy. One of the moms of this girl told the principal I was pretending to be a girl so I could get into the girls’ bathrooms and bully and scare the girls there because she called me something rude and I punched her.”

“Your self control is awful.”

“I was eleven.”

“That was just two years ago. You’re thirteen aren’t you?”

“Yep. Isn’t everyone in the bey club thirteen except Hana?”

“That’s right. She’s fifteen, same as Eze and I think Duncan.”

Suki groans and shifts on Ren’s back, but he stays knocked out.

“Are we almost there?” Ren asks, but she doesn’t look too tired, even after walking all this time under the blazing sun with a hundred plus pound boy on her back.

“Yeah. It’s just right over there.” Ara points out the complex, nestled among a couple other complexes so it doesn’t look too out of place. They turn a street corner and cross the street so they can be under the shade of some trees along the sidewalk.

“Oh! I’m curious,” Ren starts again after another period of silence. “You and Suki have some pretty cool earrings. When’d you get them?”

“Pretty recently - we got them for our thirteenth birthday. Our parents were really resistant to the idea but enough badgering them and they finally gave in.”

Ren reaches out touch one, but then thinks the better of it and withdraws her hand. Ara slides her a sidelong glance.

“What about yours? You’ve got three in each ear. That’s more than me.”

“Oh, these?” Ren touches the two black dangling hoops in the shell of her right ear and the large, round onyx stud in her earlobe. “My mom said alright when I asked. I’ve had them for a year now. I’m planning on getting another hoop when I get older.”

“Your mom seems like a cool person.”

“She is! She was the first one to accept me as a girl. Remember, I told you that girl I punched had a mom who filed a complaint? My mom went to the office and told the principal he’d better not do anything because he hadn’t heard the whole story, and that she might even report him if he ever stopped me from doing things that girls do because I was one.”

“I take it back. Your mom is an extremely cool person.”

“She also makes the best Um Ali you’ll ever taste. It’s so good!”

“What exactly is that?”

“It’s kinda like bread pudding. Also, the name is literally Ali’s mom, which is pretty funny considering what I’m saying about it.” Ren giggles. “Anyway, once you eat it, you’ll never want to stop.”

“Would you mind giving me the recipe? Me and Suki have been working out how to cook for ourselves, so we might be able to remake it and try it for ourselves.”

“Sure! Um, what’s your phone number? I’ll text it to you.”

Ara recites it to her as she carefully types it in with one hand, the other steadying Suki, and she shows her screen to Ara, who nods, confirming the number.

“We should make a bey club group chat,” Ren says thoughtfully as she sends a test text to Ara. Almost immediately his phone buzzes in his pocket.

“Don’t know why we didn’t before. I don’t have anyone else’s number but Suki’s and Akemi’s though. We should set it up next time we meet up.”

The complex looms up in front of them, and Ara leads the now familiar way to their apartment. Once inside, Ren sets down Suki in the same way she’d gotten Ara settled and wonders if it’ll start being a recurring event where she has to help watch over one of the twins while he works out his issues.

She hopes not. Two incidents are enough.

Ara returns with a mug of something steaming and fragrant, the shadows under his eyes more prominent than before, and he indicates the flat screen TV. “We should watch the Districts broadcast to pass time and check on the other bey club’s matches.”

They take up the empty space on the couch and Ara flicks them to the right channel. Just in time, it seems, since the screen shows Hana stepping up to face off with another girl.

“Go for it, Hana,” Ren mutters. “It’s all or nothing.”

Suki doesn’t move.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> updates may become sporadic from this point on as i run out of shit to post i'm a slow ass writer so sorry but the important thing is i'm trying my best :)


	11. On the Wings of Victory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eze may have a solution to Suki's problems. He's also very, very gay for Duncan. A new character is introduced.

It’s dark.

Dark, but not pitch blackness. He can see the shifting waves of inky black, the undulating lines of ebony wrapping around him, deep blues and purples that seem to stretch on forever, entangled with obsidian streaks and charcoal smoke.

Space. A surreal span of nothing and everything that is an endless void, but Suki can feel life, the power pulsating throughout it with every little move he makes. There are stars, there are suns, there are planets, but they’re so distant, just little insignificant specks that are muted by the swirling colors.

He feels… peaceful. Strangely relaxed in a way he’s never felt before, like he could let go of all his worries and just float away… 

Voices, muffled and indistinguishable, occasionally pierced through the void, but Suki pays them no attention. This is his place. This shadowy expanse belongs to him, the dark veil cutting him off from the rest of the world and leaving him with this void, this abyss that’s darker than the deepest reaches of space that humans have observed, yet teeming with vibrant colors to him.

His consciousness is temporary and fleeting. When the dark has released his mind, the hold on him ever so slightly relaxed, he reaches for the veil, trying to brush it aside. His worries come flooding back. Ara. Ren. Luna. Akemi. Hana. The names circle in his mind, and he strains and his fingertips brush the thin boundary.

Then the dark seizes him again, soothing away his errant thoughts, dragging him back down until he can’t remember what it was that made him want to ever leave.

He doesn’t know if his eyes are open or closed, it all looks the same regardless. Is he dead? Is he alive? He can feel little flickers of light stabbing at the veil, but they never get past.

A presence stirs the coils of the darkness wrapped around him. A fiery, burning point in the middle of the smoke and ash.

Andromeda.

_I did not expect you to come here so early._

Suki can’t speak. His lungs are filled with burning, scalding water, or was it air? It scorches his throat and insides, but it doesn’t devour him. The heat keeps his voice at bay, his muscles tightly locked together.

 _You aren’t strong enough?_ Andromeda sounds disappointed. _I thought you had complete control._

He wants to scream, to shout that he’s working on it, he’s gained so much power and learned so much. Of course he’s not there yet. But he will be. _He will be._

Delicate hands caress his face, running down to his shoulders. _Do you want to end our contract? Is this too much for you?_

No. The single word repeats, echoing, in his mind. NO!

_That’s good. You still have some fight in you._

He can feel her smiling. _But this is my domain you’re treading on. Why do you seek me? Have I not told you I will lend however much power you desire from me?_

Well, she did. That much is true. Andromeda never told him she would hold back any of it.

But yet… it feels like she is. Suki clenches his fists. Is he not strong enough? Does he not have the reins on his bond?

Is Andromeda holding back only because he’s holding himself back?

_Did you come here for answers?_

Maybe. He doesn’t know.

_Or… you instinctively came running when you pushed yourself too hard and are recovering. You hit one of your limits._

He doesn’t have limits. Just lines to cross. He won’t be held back by anything - he needs to be able to take Andromeda’s full might into his hands and leash it to his will without hitting a roadblock.

Ara does it almost effortlessly, though it’s not the entirety of Aeternitas’s power. But Ara has the control in place, Ara is strong enough to channel his and Aeternitas’s bond. Ara is better. He’s always been.

He remembers what he said about Ara the very first time he met the bey club. _‘You’re the best blader I know.’_ It’s about time he himself became the best blader he knew. Because, whether it’s at the District finals or Nationals, he’ll have to face off with Ara eventually, and he can’t let Ara get the upper hand.

Or anyone else. Ren’s summoned her spirit, too, and she clearly understands how to use it as well if she could push Ara to the brink. If he had to go against either of them in this state, he’d never score even one point against them.

He feels the darkness, clinging to him, sticky yet fluid, reluctant to let go. Light flashes behind the veil, more urgently this time. The voices come back. He still can’t make out what they’re saying.

But he feels the tug at him. Andromeda smiles; he can’t see her, but he knows she is. She is a warm, encouraging presence.

Suki waves away the darkness and reaches out.

* * *

His eyes blink open.

“He’s awake,” someone familiar observes. It takes his brain a moment to boot back up and come to life, and he connects the familiarity of the voice to Ren.

“What happened…” Suki slowly eases himself into a sitting position.

“You had a match. Then you collapsed after winning.”

Ren and Ara are both looking at him with slightly worried expressions. “You overworked yourself for a battle that shouldn’t have cost you that much energy,” Ara tells him.

“I know, I just…” Suki grits his teeth. “I couldn’t hold myself back. It just happened.”

“Then there’s something wrong,” Ara says forcefully. “The blader is the one in the bond that decides what happens to that power and energy. You need to know when to tamp it down, or you could get seriously hurt.”

“I’m working on it!” his brother snaps back. “Okay? I’m going to train hard after this to make sure it never happens again.”

“See that you do.” Ara doesn't look angry, only concerned, and Suki bites his lip, feeling guilty for lashing out.

“Hey- Sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you.”

“It’s fine,” Ara tosses over his shoulder as he goes into the kitchen. But Suki can’t help but still feel like he’s driven a temporary wedge between them.

“Give him time,” Ren tells him. “He really cares about you.”

“I know. I just… I’ve been feeling kind of odd lately. Since I woke up Andromeda and formed a bond with her. I’m feeling like my competitiveness has been dialed way up, and my need to win just multiplied by a hundred.”

Ren frowns. “That does sound weird. I haven’t felt that, as far as me and Bastet are concerned. Maybe you got a bad spirit.”

Suki sighs. “I hope not. I just think if I get in more training I can learn to control my bond. Lately it seems like Andromeda’s the one that’s pulling me along.”

“Well, that’s an issue,” Ren says rather observantly. Suki sighs. “Maybe…” She props her chin on a hand. “Maybe we can ask an Elite for help.”

"You mean like Eze? How would he help us?"

She shrugs. "They've got a lot more experience with bonded bladers than us. They're the guardians of the beyblade world, and there's gotta be more bladers who've been influenced by the power of their bonds that they've faced off with. Who else would we ask? "

Ren has a point. But Suki is a little unsure he wants to let an Elite, one of his future opponents, have a nice close up look at his bond and strength.

He shakes his head, trying to dislodge the thought. So what if Eze sees his struggles? He means to get over them, and he needs all the help he can get. It's not like Eze is the kind of person who'll laugh and belittle him for not having control.

...is he?

He sure doesn't seem like it. Eze is far too open and direct, at least from what he's seen of the towering Elite, and he didn't mock Akemi for losing to him. In fact, he'd straight up praised and encouraged him. Eze seems like a solid bet.

"Right, so how do we contact him?"

Ren coughs awkwardly. "I haven't figured that out yet. Maybe we could just go to the park where we met him and hope he appears again?"

Casting her a skeptical look, Suki leans back and stares at the TV, which has long since finished broadcasting the Districts tournament and is now some news channel he doesn't particularly care about. Even though his eyes and ears register the images and sounds, he never processes them, his brain focused on figuring out how to find Eze.

If anyone knows how to contact him, it would be his self-proclaimed biggest fan, Akemi.

And lucky him, he'd gotten Akemi's number rather early on when the club was still being formed.

"Lemme ask Akemi," he says to Ren as he pulls up said blader on his contacts list, clicking his number to start a blank chat.

_SUKI: hey akemi! do you know how to get in touch with eze by any chance?_

It sounds strange and a little creepy, but he can explain in a later text if necessary.

His phone chimes with a rather quick response.

_AKEMI: what why_

_SUKI: need some advice from him_

_AKEMI: you better not be spending quality time with him without me >:(((_

_AKEMI: ill tell u if u bring me too_

_SUKI: k, so what is it?_

_AKEMI: i have his business number :)_

_SUKI: what is it._

_AKEMI: +49-xxx-xxxxxx_

_SUKI: thx. will let you know if he agrees to meet up_

Suki quickly closes the chat and dials the number. He’s not sure if Akemi gave him a fake number or not, or if Eze will even notice the call, but he hopes. Hopes and waits.

* * *

Sweat drips down the side of Eze’s face as he strains to finish his bench press routine, currently clocking at three hundred pounds. He’s been going at it for twenty minutes without stopping now, and while it had started out easy, he’s starting to get tired, straining to lift the bar.

His phone buzzes and Eze frowns, using every last scrap of his strength to do one more press and then finally rack the barbell.

He sits up, grabbing a damp towel from the side and wiping away the sweat. Besides it is his water bottle, which he also snags and takes a deep swig from, then proceeds to pour some on his matted hair. Rivulets of water run down his face and drips from his short locks, mingling with the sweat drying on his neck and back and soaking his top through.

Once he’s sure he isn’t about to keel over in dehydration, he grabs his phone. _‘This better be important.’_

The caller’s ID is unknown, but he picks up anyway. “Hello? Who is this?”

“It’s Suki. I’m a friend of the kid you battled a few days ago.”

“Sorry, you’ll have to jog my memory. Describe him for me please.”

“Purple eyes, black and purple hair, bey called Amuratë,” the voice on the other end replies without hesitation.

Eze’s eyes widen. “Oh, _Akemi_! Yes, yes, I remember you now. Suki. What is it you need?”

Suki pauses on the other end for a moment. “I need… advice. Help if you will. It’s got to do with my bond with Andromeda. I was hoping you could give some insight on my little… problem.”

It’s at this moment, with Eze hunched over on the bench, his skin glistening with a sheen of sweat and water and hair damp, his face ruddy from his workout and looking as though he’d gone for a swim with clothes on, phone pressed to his ear, that Duncan walks in.

Duncan raises an eyebrow at him and Eze stares back, lips pressed in a thin line. He pulls the phone from his ear and turns on speaker so Duncan can hear as well.

“Can you explain it better?” Eze asks, getting serious. “I need to at least know some specifics.”

“Well… it’s about channeling the power from my bond. I have issues controlling it.”

Duncan’s eyes narrow, something unreadable in their dark depths.

Eze quickly mutes his microphone. “Do you think…?” Their gazes meet.

The other Elite nods slowly. “He needs to see Axel.”

Unmuting himself, Eze speaks. “I may have a solution. Meet me in the bey park on Saturday at 12:00.”

There’s an almost inaudible sigh of relief over the speakers. “I’ll be there. Oh, do you mind if I bring some other bladers too?”

“No, not at all.”

“Alright. Thank you, Eze.”

Eze grins, even though Suki can’t see it over the call. “No problem. Our job is to help out bladers, anyway. See you there.”

The line goes dead with a click.

“Very… unique group of bladers you’ve found,” Duncan mutters. “Do I need to be there too?”

“Might as well. It’s bound to get very interesting very fast.” The massive Elite wipes the liquid from his brow again, shaking his head and sending droplets flying, and Duncan takes a step back to avoid getting sprayed in the face, sighing.

“Gonna go take a shower,” Eze announces. He stands, then looks back at Duncan and very un-subtly winks. “Wanna join me?”

“I’ll pass.”

“You’re no fun!” With that, he leaves for the locker rooms of the gym.

Duncan smiles faintly at his retreating back.

* * *

“Should we go check on the twins and Ren?” Hana wonders.

“We probably should,” Akemi says as he runs up to them. “Guess what Suki texted me?”

The others shake their heads wordlessly.

“He asked me about Eze,” the boy tells them. “He said he wanted advice, and he promised to bring me to see him.”

“Bring _us,_ ” Luna responds in a clipped tone. “There’s no way he’d just give you special treatment. Besides, the bey club _is_ a club. We stick together.”

Akemi sighs. “I guess. Anyway, I have Suki’s address. Let’s go and make sure he’s alright.”

The three of them had won all their respective battles, and were all advancing to the next round, which would be set on Friday, or tomorrow. It wasn’t a surprise, but one of them would probably be eliminated since there were only eight bladers left and five of them were still in the running.

If they’re lucky, four of them will make it to the semifinals, but there’s a low chance of that happening.

Akemi leads the way and the others follow, Hana staying close to Luna to make sure he doesn’t fall asleep and potentially get himself killed.

“You have a pretty big obsession with Eze,” Hana ventures. “He’s not even the most powerful Elite.”

Turning around and walking backwards so they can see him rolling his eyes, he replies, “Well yeah, but he’s still so awesome. And strong. You ever see anyone with those kinds of bulging muscles? I wonder how much he can deadlift!”

“You’d do better working on yourself first. No use ogling over someone else when you can barely compete with Suki.” Luna watches him with his grey eyes, his gaze, like a blank cement wall, giving nothing away. “I thought you wanted to be like him, that’s why you idolize him so much.”

“I, I mean I do. It’s just…” Akemi makes a face. “How much work would I have to put in to get as buff as that? He’s gotta have worked out for years!”

Hana makes a disbelieving noise. “Okay, but that’s not an excuse not to work out or at least strive for that!”

Whatever Akemi is about to retort is cut off when he crashes into someone else as a result of him not looking where he’s going.

“OOF!”

“Ugh-”

The two boys crash to the ground, Akemi yelping as he bangs his elbow and just barely catches himself before his face is violently acquaintanced with the sidewalk.

The other person is sprawled on top of him, glasses knocked askew and bag almost flung off his shoulder, though the opening flap holds strong and his stuff doesn’t come spilling out.

“Hey!” The stranger picks himself up. “Who walks _backwards?_ You could have done some serious damage!”

Akemi scrambles to his feet. “Well, you shoulda been looking to see who was in your path too, dumbass!”

“Alright.” Other boy concedes the point. “But still. What were you thinking, twig?”

Akemi’s eyes narrow. “Hey buddy. Who do you think you’re calling a twig, huh?”

Hana steps forward placatingly, gently but firmly wedging herself between them. “Guys, guys. There’s no need to fight. Can you two just, you know, um, apologize and move on?” It’s a move uncharacteristically bold of the shy, reserved girl, and it shocks Akemi enough that he listens.

“Fine,” Akemi spits grudgingly. “Sorry for bumping into you.”

“Sorry,” the other boy echoes back.

As he brushes himself off, the bey club inspect the new person. He seems to be around the same age as them, with platinum blonde curls dyed black at the tips, large, round glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, a pink short-sleeved shirt over a black long-sleeved one which is fraying at the wrists, gray skinny jeans and black combat boots with crimson soles. His eyes are a similar shade of red, a little darker, like the color of blood. Almost.

Under his right eye is a stylized wing tattoo, which he draws attention to unwittingly as he adjusts his glasses with a hand. A silvery armor cuff earring is secured on the shell of his right ear. A grey messenger bag with red highlights hangs on one shoulder and rests on the opposite hip, on top of a blader’s belt. His launcher peeks out from its case on the other hip, rubber black over white and pinkish-red plastic.

“Are you here for the District tournaments?” Akemi asks. “If you are, you’re two days late. It’s already the third round.”

“Oh no. I’m not here because of that. In fact, I’m a Bey Trainer. I just happened to pass by to check out the tournament bladers, since I heard the Nationals will take place in a stadium here soon.”

“Oh.” Akemi studies him some more. “What’s your name?”

“Yuuya. Ayanami Yuuya.”

“Never heard of you.”

Yuuya doesn’t seem put off by the comment. “I doubt you have. I haven’t really made a name for myself. Although you might’ve heard of my mentor? He’s called Axel.”

The three of them exchange glances. “I haven’t,” Luna and Akemi chorus together. But Hana looks like she recognizes the name.

“Axel Reyes? That’s the name?” she asks, and Yuuya nods. “I think. Hm… yeah, I’ve heard of him.”

Luna and Akemi look at her as she frowns, deep in thought. “He crafted the current Champion’s bey. The Champion before that, too, if I recall correctly, and a bunch of Elites’ beys.”

“You mean like… Erontonius?”

“I believe so,” Hana tentatively confirms.

Akemi’s eyes go wide, and he looks at Yuuya with newfound respect. “Any distant friend of Eze’s is _my_ friend. Hey, are you part of any teams?”

“If you’re asking me to join a team, I have to decline,” Yuuya says, shaking his head. “I just had a bad experience with one, and I’m not currently connected with any. But I’ll hang around as a free agent.”

Akemi seems to wilt, but at the last sentence, he perks up again. “Awesome!”

Yuuya looks a little surprised at Akemi’s sudden change in attitude, but he quickly shrugs it off. “I’ll be staying nearby, and if you want to upgrade or repair your beys, my prices are pretty cheap. Here’s my number.” Yuuya fishes around in his bag and takes out a little piece of paper, which Akemi eagerly grabs and stuffs in his own pocket. “Gotta go now. See you guys around.”

He sidesteps the group and continues on.

Akemi’s eyes are glittering. “That’s the guy that was mentored by Erontonius’s creator? Dang!”

Hana’s brow furrows. “I don’t know. It could be Axel, or it could be anyone else. I’m not sure. I think it was Axel though. You can ask Eze when you see him.”

“Still. A legendary Bey Trainer’s protege? That’s amazing. If I were a legendary Bey Trainer I wouldn’t just pick any old person to mentor. That Yuuya guy _has_ to be real good at his job.”

“We’ll find out when someone breaks their bey,” Luna says. “For now, let’s get a move on to Suki’s place.”

Nodding, Akemi speeds up to a jog, this time looking in the direction he’s going, and the other two keep close on his heels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy new year. i will be playing overwatch until 1 am to celebrate


	12. Nostalgia Watch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Elites visit a good friend and bring the Bey Club along for the ride so Suki can get Andromeda checked out.

Surprisingly, the third round had matched three of the remaining bey club members against not each other, but against the other four bladers in the rounds. Ara had easily dispatched his with a single swift blow from Aeternitas.

The rest of them had been slightly more challenging. Hana’s opponent managed to score a point against her before she’d reverse-swept him with two spin finishes in a row.

Suki had no issues scoring a burst finish right off the bat either, but it was clear to the rest of them he had some trouble holding back again. At the very least, this time he didn’t pass out.

Akemi had unfortunately been paired with Luna. He'd had a point stolen from him via over finish before he managed to burst Luxior.

Luna had fallen asleep pretty quickly after quietly congratulating Akemi.

“And now!” the announcer calls loudly, “We have our four semifinalists, and we’ll be revealing their matches ahead of time! The tournament will continue on Sunday to allow these final four to prepare, and then we’ll hop right to the matches! Alrighty, without further ado, here are the matchups!”

Ara’s profile appears opposite of Hana’s, while Suki’s comes up against to Akemi’s.

Suki and Akemi immediately glance at each other, each silently gauging his opponent’s strength.

Hana does the same to Ara, but the twin doesn’t look back, either self-assured in his victory or uncaring of how powerful Hana is.

“I’m going to the finals,” Suki says to Akemi. “You can try all you want but I’m way more powerful than the day I joined the club.”

“Me too!” Akemi shoots back. “You’ll eat your words when I beat you!”

They almost literally butt heads, but Ara is somehow instantly there to separate them with a sigh.

“Enough, children,” he chides, and both boys look at him with incredulous expressions.

“We’re the same age!” Suki and Akemi shout together, then exchange surprised glances.

“Try acting a little more mature and I’ll rethink that statement.”

“We are mature!” they both protest at the same time again. Then look suspiciously at each other.

Ara stares at them, only very slightly amused but hiding it well. “Suki, we’re leaving. Everyone else, don’t forget to go to the bey park tomorrow at the time we set for the meeting.”

He strides off, and Suki casts Akemi one last glare before hurrying after his twin.

Akemi sticks his tongue out and blows a raspberry in response.

* * *

When Suki arrives with Ara besides him, he sees three figures near the bey stadiums. He can identify Eze by his enormous stature, and Akemi by his distinctive and (distastefully) edgy clothing choices as he gets closer, but the third is unknown to him.

Eze and Akemi turn as he draws near, and and Akemi waves excitedly at him. The third person faces him as well, and the first thing he deduces is that he’s a blader too.

The new boy is shorter than Eze, but still a great deal taller than Akemi, which isn’t really that impressive considering Akemi is the resident short one, but he’s also taller than Suki himself. His dark hair is dyed an almost poisonous green at the tips of his bangs that barely reach the middle of his forehead. Two straight locks of hair frame his face and the rest is spiked backwards. Dark brown eyes peer curiously at the approaching twins, and he tilts his head slightly.

He’s wearing a dark green jacket over a white shirt, and black long pants that end at a pair of grey lace up boots. His blader gear rests on his right hip, the belt a near black with neon green splattered on to it carelessly, his case much the same way.

“Ah, Suki. Glad you’re here. This is Duncan, one of my fellow Elites.” Eze motions to the third person.

Duncan smiles warmly. “Nice to meet you.” He turns to Ara. “And you are…?”

“Ara. I’m Suki’s twin brother.”

Suki can feel Duncan sizing them up mentally. He makes a note to keep track of anything Duncan does to reveal his power.

“Who’re we waiting on?” said Elite asks to nobody in particular. Akemi answers with “Three more bladers. They’re all in my blading club that I told you about! There’s me, Suki and Ara over there, Ren, Hana and Luna. They should be coming soon.”

As if on cue, Ren appears at the entrance of the park with Luna by her side. She hurries over with a quick “Sorry I’m late, what did I miss?” Luna stays silent as he observes the unfamiliar Elite.

Duncan and the other two introduce themselves, and they retreat under the pavilion’s covering as the sun starts to peek out from behind the clouds, beating down on the cement with a fury.

Finally, Hana arrives, wearing her blader gear like the rest of them. Duncan’s gaze falls on her as she runs over, panting slightly, and lingers a little longer than usual.

He reintroduces himself and Hana returns the favor with a shy smile.

“Alright, let’s get started,” Eze announces once everyone’s settled in. “Suki. Can I see Andromeda?”

Suki drops it into Eze’s waiting palm, and he studies it.

After a moment, Eze looks up. “I know I said that I could help, but there’s limited advice I can give on this situation. The reason I had you guys gather this early is ‘cause we’re going to visit one of my old friends.”

“How old, exactly…?” Akemi questions.

“He’s not a grandpa,” Duncan clarifies. “But he’s helped us in the past. We faced off with a blader who was in a similar situation with him backing us up, and he’ll be able to tell you what you need.”

“Is he a blader?” Ara interjects, looking mildly interested.

“Maybe.” Eze winks. “Anyway, he lives kinda far away, but I got us some train passes. It’ll only take half an hour to get there.”

He gives each of them a plastic card about the size of a credit card. “Day pass,” Eze explains as the club scrutinize the cards. “It’ll work for unlimited train rides for today.”

Eze gives them a radiant smile. “Let’s go, then!”

* * *

The ride is turning out to be _boring_. Luna’s curled up in a seat by them and lightly dozing while Ren leans over Hana, the two of them scrolling through Hana’s social media together.

Ara’s staring out the window at the moving landscape, and Suki is so, so bored.

He spots Duncan sitting alone, though close by Eze, and decides to get to know the Elite a little better so he can measure the Elite’s strengths and weaknesses.

Suki stands, grabbing on to the handrails and making his way over to Duncan, who looks up in anticipation.

“Um, so hey,” Suki starts as he drops into the seat next to Duncan’s. “You’re an Elite, right?”

“Yeah.”

“What’s your bey?”

Duncan gives a bemused snort, but takes out his bey. “No touching, please,” he says as he holds it up for Suki to see. “This is Endothermic Atomorso.”

“Huh, nice.” Suki studies the bey. It seems to be a right-spinning Stamina type, with a strange-looking layer. The chip has a biohazard symbol in the center, with what looks like smoke drifting to the edges of the chip.

The layer appears to be… padded. It’s the only way Suki can describe it. Somewhat similar to Ren’s bey, it’s round and sturdy, built almost like a Defense type, but from the way Duncan’s holding it, it seems to weigh less.

As Duncan puts Atomorso away, Suki decides to keep the conversation going before it’s killed off entirely by awkward silence. “So. How long have you been an Elite?”

“Two years and this will be my third.” Duncan drums his fingers on a vertical handrail. “You can probably still find recordings of my battles.”

“Is it hard to become an Elite?”

“It is. There’s no set number of Elites, they’re chosen by the Champion, usually of finalists from the world championship. I was chosen by the Champion of the year before last year. Ghost. I didn’t think I was ready to accept the responsibility, but they must have seen something in me.”

Suki blinks. “Wait, so there aren’t always three Elites?”

Duncan nods. “There used to be four back when I first became one. She retired last year. Her name was Sofia, if you wanted to know. She wielded the ferocious Attack type Strzyga. It reminds me of Andromeda.”

Suki perks up. “So you think I could be an Elite?”

“Anyone can be an Elite if they have natural talent, a good work ethic and a little bit of luck.”

“Is there another way someone can stop being an Elite? Or is it just a title that you carry ‘till you retire?”

The other boy shakes his head. “Although the Champion chooses the Elites, it’s not a permanent post. They repick every year. There’s a good chance if you don’t make it to at least the semifinals, you won’t be chosen. If you’re showed up by another blader, you probably won’t get picked again.”

“So what did you think of the previous Champion when they chose you?”

“Ghost? They were incredible. I don’t know if anyone was a match for them. They were so powerful that it’s impossible not to feel their power’s presence during battle, even physically, when they chose to let it show. I’m not sure we ever saw their true strength, they’re so good at hiding it.” Duncan’s fingers still on the handrail. “I didn’t battle them - I lost to Sofia that competition, in the semifinals. But the way Ghost crushed Eze like it was nothing… Not many people can channel a Stamina type so well.”

“Ghost was a Stamina type user?” This is news to him. “How can a Stamina type dominate the other types?”

Duncan laughs quietly. “Each type has its strengths and weaknesses. I’ve learned my way around with Atomorso, but Ghost just… they’re on a whole different level. Calling them god-like doesn’t do them justice. They’re more like twenty steps above that.” He’s getting a bit of a faraway look in his eyes that Suki recognizes. It’s the look that Akemi gets whenever he starts going on about how awesome and amazing Eze is.

“If Ghost is- _was_ so powerful, how did Ousuke become the current Champion?”

The Elite heaves a sigh. “I don’t know. It might be that Ghost got bored. They’ve been the Champion for almost four years, you see. Hardly anyone could even score a single point against them. Whatever the case, Ghost hardly put up a fight when Ousuke blazed through the world championship. It was a pathetic battle. Two burst finishes from Ophion sealed the deal. And then Ghost vanished, as they do after every single battle. I’m not saying Ousuke hadn’t earned the Champion title,” Duncan concedes, “he’s good. Much better than I am. But he hardly stood a chance against Ghost, unless they purposefully threw the battle.”

“Weird.”

“I still remember it. The finals. Ousuke was smiling at Ghost, telling them he’d finally dethroned the phantom that had been dominating the championship. And then Ghost stared right at him, and told him something I’d never forget. ‘Don’t be too sure of that. I will make you pay if you misstep’. It sent chills down my spine. To hear Ghost threaten someone as powerful as Ousuke… the title isn’t just a fun little title you can wear like a shiny badge. It’s a responsibility. It means you’re now in charge of making sure everything goes well. You and the Elites.”

“Wait, so what the heck do you guys even do?”

“We keep a watch over the bladers of the world. We search for new talent and help nurture growing bladers. We make sure those that abuse the power of the bonds to hurt others are stopped.”

“Did you guys face off against someone like that while Ghost was still the Champion?”

“We did, yes.”

“Can you tell me about it?”

Duncan smiles slightly. “It’s connected to the person we’re going to visit. Do you really want me to spoil it right now?”

“Hm. Guess not.”

“Well then. Hope that answers all the questions you have.”

“Actually, not really.” Suki thinks for a moment. “The Champion is the leader that’s in charge of all the stuff, you said?” 

“Somewhat. There’s other factors involved in the planning. It’s not all the Champion.”

“So the Champion’s like a figurehead?”

“Not just a figurehead, but… sorta like one. It’s hard to keep out of the spotlight as one of the most powerful bladers in the world.”

“Huh.”

A theory is slowly forming in Suki’s mind. Something that probably wasn’t the reason that Ghost had intentionally lost to Ousuke, but maybe it was one of the factors. “Hey, Duncan,” he starts again after a brief silence. “You said you guys faced off against someone who ‘threatened the beyblade world’ or whatever, right?”

“That’s correct.”

“Are you sure you defeated them fully?”

“Without spoiling too much, I can safely say yes, we did. If we didn’t, I wouldn’t be here now. Neither would Eze, or Malakae, or Ousuke. Honestly maybe not even Sofia.”

Suki tucks the thought away for later. Maybe when he meets their mysterious friend he’ll get the answers he needs. Why would Ghost so brazenly lose to someone that’s clearly weaker than them? It could be boredom like Duncan suggested but that seems too… shallow. Too easy of a reason to dismiss Ghost’s strange behavior. And with what Ghost said to Ousuke, it sounded like they meant to return at some point.

He’d come to Duncan just looking for some strategies to beat the said Elite and ended up with questions born from real curiosity.

“Thanks for telling me all this,” he says to Duncan, and the Elite shrugs but gives him a thumbs up.

“It’s not some secret history. I’m glad to help answer anything you want to ask.”

Suki retreats back to his seat, frowning as he slips deep into thought.

* * *

As the mechanical voice calls out the next stop in a flat monotone over the speakers, Eze stands, motioning towards the bey club.

Ren quickly shakes Luna awake, and they all watch as the station draws closer and closer until they’re slowing to a stop at the platform. The doors hiss open and Eze leads them out.

As Suki takes in his surroundings, he realizes something. They are in the middle of Assfuck, Nowhere and all he can see for miles around is nature. Just endless green treetops, stretching into the distance, with the winding steel support of the monorail and the station itself the only evidence of human habitation. A mountain looms in the distance, snow-capped peak stark against the brilliant blue sky.

“Time to go for a hike!” Eze says cheerfully, and he leads them down the stairs to a slightly overgrown trail that has a walkway raised a couple inches off the ground.

Suki, after debating Eze’s sanity, quickly runs after him, and the rest of the bey club tentatively follow, with Duncan bringing up the rear so no stragglers are left behind.

Soon, the rumbling of the massive monorail fades as it departs for another station and the club trudge further into the woods.

At least it’s not a swamp or anything. And there aren’t that many mosquitoes as far as he can see. Or hear. The damned bugs are one of the reasons he doesn’t like nature walks.

He can hear Luna and Hana murmuring about something behind him, but he dismisses it as idle chatter as he watches Eze confidently head down the trail like he’s walked it a thousand times.

They don’t have to go far before the trees open up into a wide clearing. In the smack center of it is a fairly nice looking two-story house, walls painted a faded white and tan. There’s a massive greenhouse jutting out from the side of the house, panes tinged green and scuffed slightly from the weather, and a dark grey shed next to it, stark against the bright environment.

Eze waves them over to the stairs leading up to the porch when they hesitate at the walkway.

“It’s fine, he doesn’t bite,” Eze tells them, laughing, and presses the doorbell.

They wait a moment, and nothing happens. A breeze blows past, rustling some tree branches.

Just as Suki is about to push past Eze and ring the doorbell again, the door’s lock clicks and it swings open.

Suki isn’t sure what he’s expecting, but it definitely wasn’t this. The person looks way older than even Eze, and Suki guesses he’s in his early twenties. Twenty one, maybe? Suki pegs him as a Hispanic from how he looks - skin too dark to just be from a tan, large, dark eyes and hair tied in a short ponytail draped over one shoulder, ends dyed pink. A black windbreaker is tied around his waist, over dark grey cargo pants and a lighter grey shirt stained with various colors, some of them appearing to be paint splatters. He’s also barefoot.

“Eze,” he scolds. “You didn’t tell me you were visiting. And with such a large group, too.”

Eze rubs his hand against his neck. “I… might’ve forgotten.”

The stranger shakes his head, but he’s smiling as he steps aside. “Alright, all of you. Come in, please! Take off your shoes.”

Eze kicks off his own and puts them on a rack by the door, coming inside. The rest of the bey club file in with nervous mutters and excited whispering coming from one Akemi, and Duncan closes the door behind them.

Suki notes that Axel and Hana lock gazes for a brief moment.

“Now,” Axel claps his hands together, turning to them and smiling. “I feel like we’re going to have a lot to talk through. Make yourselves comfortable.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> axel my dude i missed you so much since you literally disappeared from my fics. vanished without a trace. good to have you back buddy.   
> what's that? where's sujihara? haha i don't know- hey hey put that knife down before you hurt someone with it


	13. Band-Aid Solution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The bey club learn about an old foe and his story of defeat, bringing Suki a step closer to solving his problem.

“So,” Axel says, sipping at a cup of some sort of tea as he leans on the countertop, the rest of the bey club sitting on stools at the counter or standing around. “What brings you here?”

Suki wastes no time and gets straight to the point. “My bey,” he says to the trainer bluntly. “We formed a bond, Andromeda and I. And now my control is slipping.”

“Ah. Please come with me.”

Axel sets down his tea and leads them into a large room that seems to be his workshop. Tools are lined neatly on racks, or hanging from hooks on the walls. A shelf against the far corner holds labelled bins, each sticker label with a letter and a number.

There’s a 3D printer on a table, and some other machinery that Suki doesn’t recognize. Most of the table is empty, but there’s a portion that’s littered with blueprints and papers with scribbles all over them, a pen lying across them and obscuring a few of the papers. Underneath the tables are some of what look like lockers, but without the padlocks. Axel kneels down and opens one up while the rest of them file in.

He takes out a small metal box and puts it on the empty part of the table. The bey club crowd around him as he inputs a number combination into the lock and it clicks open.

Inside is a bey that looks unlike anything any of them have ever seen.

It’s grey and black with metallic red highlights, glittering threateningly. The bey’s presence is almost tangible in the air, eerie and unnatural, and as Axel takes it out, a pulse of energy emits from the bey.

Various parts are scattered around in the box besides the bey, and Axel hums softly, brushing his thumb over the goat head-shaped chip, with its slanted eyes and red symbols curving around to twist into horns.

“This is Modular Discord,” Axel says. “Proof that it’s possible to bond to a bey that’s not your own.”

Eze gasps as he leans over and catches sight of Discord. “You _kept_ it?!”

“I had to,” Axel sighs. “Ghost ordered me to.”

Suki notices, out of the corner of his eye, Duncan flinching when he sees the bey.

“It originally belonged to someone called Daedalus, who was in a similar sort of situation. You see, spirits aren’t just summoned. They’re created, in a sense.” Axel tilts Discord so the light catches on its metal bits. “Your spirit is like a reflection of your soul. It rises from your deepest desires and will do anything to help you achieve them. Most of them end up being harmless because bladers don’t tend to want to wreck havoc and cause destruction.

“This bey houses a particularly dangerous spirit - one that’s born of greed, and of chaos. It was originally kept in a bey called Labyrinth, a simple dual layer bey that slowly increased in strength every time it defeated its opponent. Daedalus would carve off a piece of a bey he deemed worthy after he defeated it, and eventually Discord was created out of these patchwork parts.”

Axel picks up one of the pieces from the box. He fits it on to Discord and it locks into place on the chassis with a small click. “Discord was meant to be the ultimate wild card, an unknown variable that could adapt to any situation. Once it was created, Daedalus set out to test it against all bladers, breaking any bey that got in his way, and it continued to feed on his desire to crush everything underfoot until he was more powerful than any non-Elite blader. Fortunately for us, Ghost and their Elites stepped in and put an end to that.”

“I remember,” Duncan says suddenly and the club turn to him. “We forcefully removed his ability to bond with his bey, or any bey for that matter. I’m not sure exactly how - only Ghost would know that - but he could never connect to Discord anymore.” Eze makes a noise of affirmation.

“Afterwards, Ghost came to me,” Axel continues. “They asked me to keep the bey safe or destroy it if possible, to make sure Discord couldn’t latch on to anyone with the potential to become as powerful as Daedalus. It was so powerful it wouldn’t just disappear after it was beaten, and it was hungry for vengeance. I know I have no potential as a blader, it’s just not meant for me. My specialty is building beys, not using them, and Discord knows this. So I reached out and took Daedalus’s spot. Discord was unwilling, but I forced a bond, and it won’t be able to break as long as I never sever it myself.”

“So that’s why,” Eze mumbles. “Didn’t you try breaking it, though?”

“Believe me, I did, that’s why it still exists. The damn thing’s _literally_ invincible.”

“This is all well and good, but what does it have to do with me?” Suki interrupts.

Axel gives him a knowing smile. “It has everything to do with your little problem. Discord and Andromeda are two completely different spirits. Discord was created with malicious intent, Andromeda wasn’t. My bond with Discord allows me to get a feel of other bladers’ bonds, something Daedalus used to his advantage while battling, and I know Andromeda’s true nature. It’s not malicious, though it’s created out of ambition, which can lead to darker things, but Andromeda will only get worse if you get worse. Which means this lack of control is coming from you directly.”

Suki deflates. “How do I get control?”

“Practice.” Suki groans, and the other members of the club chuckle. “Care for a battle? It’ll help me better understand your problem.”

“Alright.” Anything to wrestle control back.

Axel grabs a random launcher off his shelves full of the things, then beckons to them, leading the way to the front door where he slips on some shoes and heads over to the shed.

Once the rest of them get outside, he maneuvers the shed door open, the metal creaking with protest, and then drags out a stadium. The surface is worn almost smooth, clearly a beloved object that had been used to practice on many thousands if not tens of thousands of times.

Eze helps him carry it over, where he sets it on the grass.

Taking Andromeda out of its case, Suki takes his place opposite of Axel at the stadium. As he watches Axel load Discord onto his launcher, the bey pulses with energy that’s so raw and charged that he can feel the beginnings of rage and hate and fear swirling low in his gut. He stares up at the trainer and finds Axel’s grip on the launcher tight, faint creases appearing on his face from what he must feel from Discord - probably a hundred times more potent than what Suki’s trying to block out, since he’s directly receiving it from the dangerous, chaotic spirit.

“I’ll ref,” Eze says, stepping up to the stadium. He glances at both Suki and Axel. “Ready? Set.”

“3, 2, 1! Go shoot!”

Discord lands in the stadium and is off like a shot, mirroring Andromeda’s aggressive launch, circling its opponent and checking for openings. Andromeda gives it none, curving down to meet it in the middle.

As the beys clash, it seems like Suki’s entered a bubble - Eze, the rest of the bey club all fade out, everything beyond the stadium and his opponent blurring and slowing. He glances up at Axel and barely refrains from taking a step back, his entire body going rigid with terror, his hands shaking.

A huge, dark shape looms over the trainer, with two white slits for eyes. A pair of horns jut out, straight and sharp from the back of its head, while a second pair curls down to the beast’s lower jaw like ram’s horns. Wings, trailing smoke from the membranes flare out, and it roars, the sound reverberating through the air and rattling Suki’s eyeballs in their sockets.

Red markings glow to life on its forehead and under its eyes, and it makes to lunge at Suki with razor-sharp claws. He flinches and shields his face.

The sound of metal chains snapping against each other makes him crack one eye open, and he realizes there’s a thick metal collar around Discord’s neck, weighed down with heavy grey links. Discord snarls and paces behind Axel, long claws digging deep furrows in the ground, but Suki sees now that he’s keeping a tight hold of the spirit’s power, holding it back. He relaxes ever so slightly.

“Summon your spirit,” Axel says softly, but Suki hears him as clear as if Axel had just spoken next to him.

Andromeda the bey rebounds off of Discord and as both curve around for a vicious counterattack, Suki grabs hold of his bond and _yanks_.

Something snaps inside of him and warmth flows through his body, Andromeda forming in a burst of light like a new star being born besides him. He can feel the bond, a burning lifeline between him and Andromeda, but he can’t let up. Not now, not when he’s up against a bey that’s only a shadow of its former self that the powerful Elites managed to defeat.

He tries to grab his bond but the glowing threads burn and scorch his palm, and he hisses, shying away. He can feel power pulsing into him, bright and hot and uncomfortable, and he feels his control rapidly slipping.

“Steady yourself,” Axel says and Suki hangs on to his voice amid a swirling maelstrom of light and heat. “You’re emotionally unstable, and Andromeda’s picking up on it. You need to make sure she understands your intentions perfectly clearly.”

Suki glances at his spirit, who’s watching him evenly. He shuts his eyes, focusing completely on what it is that he wants from Andromeda.

_‘I need your help, Andromeda. To be the best.’_

He seizes the bond, and this time, it’s no longer painful, but pulses with something akin to euphoria and ecstasy, and Suki barks out his order as his eyes fly open, irises burning with an inner fire. “Andromeda! Comet Shoot!”

His bey responds in a blast of deep purple and blue, and it carves a sparking line across the stadium and slams into Discord from below. Its monstrous spirit emits a sound like a high pitched scream mingling with a deep-throated roar filled with pure venom and fury, and Discord lands outside the stadium with a soft thump.

Reality crashes back in and Suki staggers from the sudden sensory overload.

“Andromeda with an over finish. Uh, I don’t really know if that counts as a win, but one point to Suki.”

Axel quirks an eyebrow. “I really didn’t expect that to work,” he admits, “but it did. Congratulations.”

The trainer grabs both Discord and Andromeda and hands the latter to Suki, who takes it with a sharp intake of breath.

“So it’s fixed?” Suki asks tentatively.

“Of course not. This isn’t the type of problem where you find the solution once and it’s over and gone. You have to continue working on keeping Andromeda in check with yourself as you grow stronger together.”

Suki’s enthusiasm does fizzle out slightly at that, but he still feels a little glimmer of hope. If he could do it here and now against a vicious bey like Discord, he can do it later in his battles against other, stronger opponents.

“Also…” Axel coughs. “Your bey’s ring is loose.”

Right. That. Suki hadn’t gotten around to find someone to fix it for him. “Can you fix it?”

“Of course I can.” Axel looks slightly offended at hearing his ability to fix such a simple problem is being doubted. He starts to turn back towards the house.

“Wait!” Akemi interjects, waving his hand in front of Axel’s face to get his attention. “I heard you made Erontonius, and it’s amazing! Can you look at my bey too? Can you, pleeeeeeeeeease?” He takes out Amuratë and practically sticks it in Axel’s face.

“I… suppose? Sojiro won’t be back for at least a few hours.”

“And me!” Ren chirps. “That is, if you can.”

Axel’s beginning to look like he regrets saying anything about Andromeda, but he sighs when he looks on the hopeful faces of five children and one slightly more uncaring child. “Fine. All of you. Back in the workshop, and I’ll see about giving your beys a little polish up. And you,” he says to Eze darkly, who gives a nervous chuckle, “you’re going to owe me a very big favor after this.”

* * *

While Axel and Suki work on figuring out how Andromeda’s ring warped enough to become loose, Ren wanders around in the ‘safe area’, or the places Axel told them that they could go, which was basically only the first floor. Upstairs and the basement are forbidden.

Being the rebellious young teenager she is, she jiggles the door of the basement’s staircase anyway.

It’s locked, which kills any interest she might have had in the basement. There’s probably only boring stuff down there anyways.

She does run into Eze conversing with Duncan in hushed voices, and… maybe decides to eavesdrop. Just a bit.

Ren creeps as close as she dares, when the murmurs start to form coherent sounds she can make out.

“...you worried about Discord?” That was definitely Eze with his throaty, deep voice.

“Not really.” Duncan, then. A softer, but not much higher voice.

“Yeah, but… what if Discord corrupts him?”

There’s a long silence.

“That’s why he’s the one to form the bond. It won’t be hard to take him down. Would you rather have someone like Ara going around and destroying things?”

“I guess you have a point.”

“Besides, if Ghost was the one to tell him to do that, I wouldn’t doubt them. They always prepare for every outcome, weigh every choice carefully so that it doesn’t lead to disaster later. That’s how we were able to nip Daedalus so early on.”

“You have a lot of faith in Ghost.”

“Since the three or four years they’ve been the champion, only one incident has ever happened, and it was quickly taken care of. Ghost has a good track record.”

“I just can’t help but be a little worried. I don’t want to end up facing off against an old friend that isn’t even himself.”

“I hope it won’t come to that…” Duncan mutters. “Besides, Sojiro will take care of it. Shuimu was no match for Discord at its full strength, but it’s been greatly weakened by its bond with a non-blader. It’s only a fraction of what it used to be.”

In the year that had passed since Daedalus’s defeat, a lot had changed. Ousuke taking the title of Champion, Sofia’s retirement, just to name a few. The tides are shifting, now, and while the surface looks calm, there’s sure to be a riptide lurking underneath, threatening to drag away anyone who let their guard down.

In short, the changes and the eerie stillness that followed it makes unease gnaw at the edges of Eze’s mind. This is exactly the time when someone would rise to become a new threat, when Ghost is gone and two of the four Elites are inexperienced in setting up the proper safeguards like Ghost had done. 

“Have you heard any word from Ousuke?” Eze asks after a moment.

“He’s been completely silent after he told us he and Malakae won’t be checking out Japan’s Nationals. We’re on our own here.”

Eze curses in what Ren assumes to be German. “I thought the power surge was from Japan, that’s where the most powerful bladers of the new generation would be most thickly concentrated. Why would he ditch?”

“He could be checking out other regions. There’s no guarantee the bladers here are the _only_ ones that are powerful. But it’s weird that he wouldn’t let us know.”

Another silence.

“The bey club’s bladers are more powerful than you described them to be, Eze.”

“Yes, well, I must have read them wrong. They’re becoming way stronger way faster than I anticipated. I swear, last time I checked they really weren’t.”

“It’s possible they had a sudden burst of growth. Those twins, Suki and Ara, are looking promising, although I’d put my money on Ara over Suki.”

“Yes, well, I’m still confident in Akemi’s abilities. They signed up for the Districts, right?”

“Mhm. I watched the battles. I must say, I was surprised by one of the girls. Hana, was that right?”

Ren silently smacks her palm against her forehead. Where was _her_ praise!? Oh well.

“I don’t recall ever getting a feel for her,” Eze says. “I assume she has a bond, though?”

“She does. But I’ve never seen her previous blading records. All the others at least have past blading experience, even the so-called Tsuchiya ‘newbies’. She must have started very recently, though it’s impressive she’s managed to forge a bond so quickly.”

“It happens, you know. Child prodigies and all that. Plus, she's been hanging with that bey club, and _they're_ all pretty strong, so maybe she learned from them.” He quiets and Ren hears some shuffling around, and then Eze starts up again. “Here, these are the semifinal brackets for their District.”

“She’s up against Ara. As impressive as her exponential growth is, I believe Ara will win this one.”

“What about Akemi and Suki?”

“…that’s harder. I’m not sure. From what I’ve seen from Suki’s battle against Axel and yours of Akemi, I’d say they’re evenly matched.”

“Mm…” Eze’s voice is light and teasing. “Dunc, I didn’t think you were one for idle gossip!”

“It’s not _gossip_ , it’s scouting,” Duncan protests but his voice doesn’t have much bite to it. He sounds resigned, almost.

Their conversation quickly shifts away from blading and to Eze's uncle and Ren gets bored of listening to their mundane chatter, sneaking off to find something else to do.

She might have lost to Ara early on, but she'll prove that she can pull her own weight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i told yall updates were gonna get weird


	14. Shadow of Doubt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The club battle in the semifinals.

"In case you guys didn't see back at Axel's," Akemi announces loudly and also extremely obnoxiously, "he helped me clean my bey parts. Amuratë is definitely super cool and the awesomest bey now!"

As he had been doing for the last half an hour since they met up at the bey park. There's still time before the semis take place and the remaining members are either busy training - Ara launching over and over again in a stadium - or boasting - Akemi - or trying to train and failing because of Akemi.

Most of them are tired of his constant bragging and have been since the very first minute of it.

It’s also pretty clear that Akemi is way too headstrong and confident in his “new” Amuratë to bother training for long like Ara is doing. Besides, he’s keeping anyone else from getting training in precisely because of his bragging. Except Ara, of course.

Actually, none of them are sure how Ara manages to concentrate with Akemi babbling on and on not five feet away from him.

"He cleaned all of our beys, Akemi," Hana sighs finally in exasperation. "You aren't special."

"I know! But look at this! It's so fast and smooth now!"

"It'll burst smoothly in the stadium during our battle," Suki drawls, though his voice is tinged with irritation, and Akemi splutters indignantly, unable to come up with a rebuttal fast enough.

“TAKE THAT BACK!” he finally hollers, and everyone within a ten feet radius, Ara included, winces. “I will crush Andromeda in today’s battle!”

Ren puts her hands over her ears, giving up on practicing her launches.

“I’m gonna make it to the finals and you aren’t! I’m gonna win! You’re gonna get bursted and lose in the semifinals! Got that?”

“Someone _please_ shut him up,” Luna hisses through clenched teeth. “I can’t stand this anymore.”

“Not like I can knock him out,” Ren mutters. “His battle is in just a few hours.”

Suki huffs, irritated. “I wouldn’t mind him not turning up and forfeiting.”

Ara slides him a strange look, and Suki quickly adds, “But I also hope he doesn’t. So I can win fair and square.”

“You better!” Akemi has not turned down his volume even one percent. “I’ll kick your ass!”

“Why don’t we call it off and just go to the stadium early,” Hana suggests, a tightness to her voice that barely hides her annoyance. “I’m with Luna. If I have to bear Akemi on his sugar rush for another minute I may just murder him.”

“I’ll catch up with you five,” Ara says to them. “I need to keep training.”

“Wait, I want to train more too,” Suki protests.

“AND ME!” Akemi shouts explosively.

Ren grabs Akemi’s forearm with one hand and Suki’s in the other. “We’re going now," she announces firmly. "If anyone has any issues, they may or may not be taken into consideration.”

She marches off, dragging both loudly protesting boys behind her in a quite frankly impressive show of strength.

Their protests soon fade into indecipherable murmurs as the rest of the bey club minus Ara leave for the stadium.

Ara stares down at Aeternitas as it makes laps around the outer stadium, leaving a pale yellow trail behind it.

It’s almost an exact copy of Andromeda, if he didn’t take into account the reversed design and the stars being replaced by gears, as well as the new color scheme.

He thinks back to when he had it first made. Somehow, remarkably, his and Suki’s imagined designs had turned out identical, perhaps a coincidence, or because they were twins and at the core, made from the same mold, although they had developed very differently.

Suki he thinks of as a flame, flickering and bright and _hungry_ , devouring every scrap of knowledge or opportunity he can get his hands on and latching on to anything that comes close. He’s easily excitable but fragile and wavering in the face of something that’s seemingly unbeatable or an obstacle that’s too difficult to overcome.

Ara has seen it before, like with their encounter with the strange cloaked figure. Suki is bright and fiery and prone to exploding in an angry and distressed mess when something doesn't go his way.

Ara himself is more ice. He's been told he's cold, hard to approach, prickly and distant, mature and well-groomed yet not friendly or easy to be around. Suki had even mentioned Ara's supposed antisocial tendencies. The truth is, and Ara knows hardly anyone will take it as an answer, that he prefers peace but won't shy away from an interaction with someone who piques his interest. He stays level-headed and cool because it helps him focus and organize his thoughts, turning his mind inward on himself and honing his mental to a razor sharp edge. He's only distant to those who try to approach him in all the wrong ways, rubbing him raw and exhausting him.

He can only recall really losing his temper once or twice. The first was with a child who liked to bully him because he was so quiet, and the second with Suki when he broke Aeternitas in a careless fit.

Both times, his wrath had cracked the thick ice encasing his emotions, the icy waters of a frozen lake within him trembling as a leviathan made from raw, cold fury raised its head from the deep. The bully had gotten beat up so badly he was hospitalized and Ara suspended for three days. Suki had been much more fortunate.

Aeternitas's blades scrape weakly against his palm when he grabs it.

He had promised himself, once he'd wrestled control back and confined that leviathan to its hibernation, he'd gain better control over his emotions so that second time might be the last.

After all, there's no use being ruled by your emotions when you can see clearly without them clouding your judgement.

Ara loads Aeternitas almost mechanically, his mind expertly recreating Hippogriff in a mental map as he picks apart its weaknesses. Hana's bey is a Stamina type so as long as he can breach its fairly weak defenses, he'll win easily with a burst finish.

He imagines himself settling into his launching stance on the stage. The blazing brightness of the lights and the cheering crowd. Suki, watching him from the sidelines as he prepares to launch. His twin being there doesn't matter to him. He's going to win this for himself.

He won't fail, not now, and not at the Nationals.

"Go SHOOT!"

Aeternitas lands in the stadium and is off like a bullet, its speed only increasing as it cuts a long, glowing trail across the stadium.

In Ara's mind, he sees Griff circle the opposite direction, light and fast. He watches it blaze with blue and silver and dodge Aeternitas's attacks at the very last second with its warped driver, jolting off in a seemingly random direction and escaping. Hana is like that, her bey mirroring her flighty, unsure personality, ready to flee at a moment’s notice and get out of danger like a sparrow testing unfamiliar branches of a tree in the danger zone.

But he watches and waits, and Aeternitas has had enough. His bey catches up to its opponent and delivers a sharp blow that sends Griff's pieces flying.

He opens his eyes, bends down and grabs Aeternitas, still circling alone in the stadium.

It's time to go.

* * *

"Okay, boys and girls!" The announcer somehow manages to sound even more excited and energetic than the first couple days of the tournament. "It is time for the long-awaited SEMIFINALS! Buckle up because this is going to be a wild ride, folks! Our first match will be between the finalist of last year, Akemi, and a newbie that's not pulled any punches and clawed his way up to the semis! What sort of battle are we in store for? We're about to find out!"

Smoke hisses from vents as the doors slide open and Akemi and Suki step out.

Akemi doesn't speak until both boys are at the stadium, facing each other.

"Get ready to go down! I'm gonna show you what Amuratë is really made of!"

"Tough luck. I'm the one going to finals!"

Akemi and Suki take their stances. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Ara staring down at him, face impassive as ever.

A perfect mask for someone that's calculating and careful, true intentions hidden under a calm surface, but unfeeling and cold.

Internally, Suki scoffs. Must be boring having the emotional capacity of a potato.

He briefly wonders if Ara even feels the adrenaline rush from a battle he does, but soon banishes the thought, replacing it with his battle plan.

First, he needs to make sure those deadly buzzsaws of Akemi's can't absorb his attacks, and second, he needs to overpower Akemi, which shouldn't be hard if he can counter Amuratë's buzzsaws.

Suki slides his foot farther back, shifting ever so slightly.

"Ready? Set."

He can feel Akemi's gaze slide from his face to the stadium, intensely focused in a way he isn't quite expecting from the usually childish and hyperactive boy.

"3, 2, 1, go shoot!"

Andromeda lands precisely where he'd aimed and immediately rushes towards Amuratë, sparks flying from its trail.

The two beys clash early, with Andromeda attacking relentlessly as Suki urges the spirit on. Amuratë quickly recovers though, saws spinning slowly from the force of the attacks, and Suki curses.

Amuratë swings in a wide arc, coming back for a counterattack, and Andromeda meets it head-on, driving all of the attack power in its blades into the blow.

Again, both beys rebound, and doubt creeps into Suki’s mind. If he can’t finish off Amuratë quickly, he’ll lose the endurance battle, and that’s not something he can risk when it’s still an only 2 point battle.

“Enough playing around,” Suki barks. “Comet Shoot Andromeda, now!”

Andromeda glows in response to his command, aura lighting up in a burst of stardust as it carves its way across the stadium’s center.

“We aren’t going to just lie down and let you walk all over us! Amuratë, Stygian Pierce!” Amuratë starts to shed glowing purple and gold flames, aura seeming to emanate actual heat, like it’s real fire.

Amuratë's saws are spinning quickly now, a dangerous purple blur as the bey careens towards its opponent.

When they hit each other, aura explodes outwards in a blaze of navy and purple and gold. Through the brightness of the explosion, Suki sees Andromeda start to force Amuratë backwards.

Then Amuratë slips free of Andromeda's deadly glowing blades.

It's wobbling, sure, but so is Andromeda. The Attack type bey is losing momentum, gravity gripping it and dragging it slowly down to the center, and Amuratë has come out slightly more fortunate.

_No. This can't be._

"Hang on, Andromeda!"

"This is the end for you, Suki!" Akemi crows as Amuratë dives for the weakened Andromeda.

It collides with Andromeda.

The space bey is knocked upwards, out of the center and towards the stadium wall.

_I won't let Akemi beat me! I have to battle Ara in the finals!_

Andromeda reaches the tornado ridge.

And it's off like a rocket, speed suddenly picking up as its tip grabs on to the ridge and propels Andromeda forward with a flurry of sparks and aura.

"Oh… Uh oh." Uncertainty passes over Akemi's face, and Suki feels a small glimmer of hope which quickly becomes a full-blown wave of determination.

"Go again, Comet Shoot!"

Andromeda becomes nothing but a glowing blur as it circles, then abruptly leaves the ridge, heading straight towards Amuratë.

"We still got this! Stygian Pierce!"

Andromeda's spirit appears in a swirl of stars and aura, her gaze as blindingly bright as twin suns, and she claps her palms together as though she's praying As she slowly pulls them apart, something glows between them, pulsing with power.

Amuratë's spirit rises from a blast of sparks and flame, the discordant sound of metal tearing against metal screeching out as the figure, a dark purple humanoid figure with flames burning from where its hair would be, a black robe draped over its thin form, eyes narrow white slits and hands replaced with metal claws, swipes the air and a large buzzsaw appears. Amuratë grabs it like a giant, razor sharp frisbee, and then sends it flying towards Andromeda, the blades gleaming as they cut through the air.

In the stadium, both beys meet.

Above the stadium, Andromeda grapples with the saw, the glowing thing between her hands morphed into clawed battle gauntlets which she uses to hold Amuratë back.

"Andromeda! Go!"

"Don't give up, Amuratë!"

And then the unthinkable happens.

Andromeda bursts, the pieces flinging apart with so much force the layer strikes the stadium wall and leaves a small mark.

Above, the saw rips through Andromeda and she dissolves into stardust.

Akemi's celebration is cut off, however by Amuratë bursting not a second later, its spirit too dissolving into ethereal flames that wink out.

"Burst finish for Amuratë. Akemi wins with a score of 2-0."

Suki can only stare, shocked and almost disassociatively, as his brain processes what happened and the ref's words.

He grabs Andromeda's pieces numbly, a single phrase repeating over and over in his head.

_'No damn way.'_

How could Akemi, a little brat of a blader, beat him?

Somehow he makes it back to the viewing area, not remembering how he managed to do so.

Andromeda's sigh is soft and wavering in his mind, but he hears it loud and clear.

"WOW! After a flaming hot battle, we have our winner! Akemi once again claims his spot in the finals, proving himself just as powerful as last year! But with a win always comes a loss, and unfortunately Suki has ended his run in this Districts." The announcer waves his arms dramatically. "Next we'll be seeing what might be a battle that's even more exciting than the one we just saw! Give it up for Hana and Ara!"

Someone pats him on the back and he jumps, missing his brother's entrance to the stage.

"Don't be too harsh on yourself. Akemi may seem like an immature little kid, but he and Amuratë worked hard to get to where they are," Luna says. "Besides, we all saw how close that battle was." 

"But I-"

"You nothing," Luna cuts him off. "You tried your best. And it's only Districts. You still have a chance to prove yourself at Regionals."

"How do I know I'll be invited? That was a terrible loss."

"You will be," a new voice assures him. Suki whips around and spots an unfamiliar boy.

Luna nods at him. "That's Yuuya. He came over to watch your battle with us."

"Is he- Are you a blader?"

"Not really, no," Yuuya answers quickly, smiling at him. "But I'm a bey trainer. Luna told me you guys visited my mentor Axel."

"We did. He… helped me figure out a way to solve a problem I had."

The mention of Axel brings up memories of Discord and its terrifying spirit. "Do you have a bey?" he asks quickly.

"Sure do. I don't really battle, though. Its name is Yatagarasu." Yuuya shuffles around in his messenger bag and pulls out a red, pink and black bey.

Suki studies it. It has three blades with flat edges, and seems to be a left spinning Attack type.

If he had to fight against Yuuya, he'd bet it still won't be easy, even if Yuuya doesn't specialize in blading as much as fixing and crafting beys.

Anything else he's about to ask is cut off by Akemi arriving, bending over with his hands on his knees as he draws in great gulping breaths.

“You!” Akemi gasps as the young trainer comes closer, managing to keep his voice low so he doesn’t get the crowd’s attention.

Yuuya looks at him curiously. “Yeah, me. What’s up?”

"You-" Akemi starts to say again but has to stop to catch his breath.

Suki frowns. He'd lost to this person, of all bladers. The thought makes his chest ache slightly.

"I didn't realize… you were here," Akemi manages to finish.

"Didn't I tell you guys I was here to watch the tournaments?"

"You mentioned Nationals, not small scale tournaments like Districts," Akemi wheezes, still slightly winded.

Suki looks back and forth between them. "Uh, do you guys know each other?" he asks, confused.

"We met on the street," Yuuya answers. "Well, more like ran into each other. Literally."

"Your fault," Akemi mutters.

Yuuya gives him a disbelieving look. "You were _literally_ walking backwards!"

"Alright. I get it." Suki's head hurts a little.

"Guys, Ara and Hana's match is starting. Get over here!" Ren whisper-yells at them, and the boys quickly crowd the railing.

They catch the tail end of the countdown and the launch.

Aeternitas streaks into the stadium, stronger and faster than Andromeda had. Griff circles just over it, watching and waiting with the patience of a hawk.

Suki doesn't know it, but the battle plays out exactly like Ara had foreseen.

Griff is able to flee from Aeternitas over and over again thanks to its irregular movements, ducking and weaving out of Aeternitas's way as the Attack type barrels towards it and misses, their trails tangling together like the steps of a lethal dance. Beautiful, but if Griff even takes one hit, it's over.

And like Ara had predicted, soon enough, Aeternitas catches up.

The time bey shreds through Griff's weak defenses like they're wet tissue paper, and the Stamina bey bursts.

"Damn," Yuuya mutters. "What an amazing show of strength."

"Ara's just that good," Ren remarks in awe. "I lost to him a few rounds ago."

"That's my twin brother," Suki says, feeling oddly pleased with Ara's victory despite his own loss.

"Huh, what happened to your strength?" Yuuya jokes. "Shouldn't twins be on the same level?"

"I'm… working on it." Suki feels a brief flash of anger at Yuuya but squashes it quickly. Yuuya hadn't been mocking him or deliberately insulting him, after all, and doesn’t deserve Suki’s rage aimed at him.

"Suki is pretty strong in his own right," Ren says in his defense. "Though Ara does seem to surpass him in terms of raw power. Not to say Suki's weak. There's more to blading than bashing your opponent to smithereens."

Yuuya chuckles. "I can see that, sorta."

"From what I've seen," Ren continues thoughtfully, "Ara excels in that blunt approach. Most Attack types are. It's a common strategy to just brute force your way through battles. And although he beat me, I think this sort of strategy isn't good against Defense types or Balance types that are defense oriented."

"So why'd you lose?" Yuuya's gaze is fixed on her face as she replies.

"I wasn't strong enough to withstand him, I guess. Although I felt like I pushed him to his limits, so it's not like he rolled me."

"I got the feeling you weren't just an average blader when I saw you. Guess I was right."

"Oh, trust me. Everyone in the club's at least above average."

Suki starts to tune out of their conversations as the full weight of his loss gradually becomes more apparent.

He'd lost. It was a small defeat, but he had lost in his very first official tournament.

It was a sign of weakness that needed to be rooted out as soon as possible.

Suki grits his teeth. If he wants to be the best, he can't afford any more slip ups.

A hand on his shoulder jolts him out of his reverie.

Ara is staring at him with that same poker face he always has on, his calm expression giving nothing away.

Suki prepares himself to answer a question about how he could have possibly lost. He's not prepared for what actually comes out of Ara's mouth: "Are you alright?"

He blinks. "I… I'm fine yeah."

Ara frowns slightly. "I know how hard you take losses. We'll talk later, okay?"

"A-Alright." As usual, his twin easily picks up on Suki's distress. He's been able to hone his ability to read Suki like a book for years and he's gotten a little too good at it for Suki's liking.

Ara walks off and Suki sighs.

It's been a stressful few days - mastering his bond, trying to pick apart the Elites' weaknesses, gearing up for the semis… He's exhausted, he realizes. For the first time, Beyblade has actually taken a toll on him.

He's not sure whether to be proud that he's actually managed to put effort into working hard for a hobby or irritated that somehow a little hobby-sport was able to tire him out so much.

Biting back an urge to just lie down and go to sleep right there, he says goodbye to the rest of the bey club and Yuuya and leaves for his apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you guys didn't see that coming didya


	15. Underneath the Underneath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ousuke decides to visit a renowned American team and scope them out.

If someone was asked to describe the blader who’s currently crowned “Most Powerful Blader in the World”, or “Champion” for short, they might think of a tall figure draped in a pale cloak with a deceptively simple and childish white mask, or even the Champion before that - a lean teenager with spiky red hair, angular emerald eyes, a semi-formal plaid jacket over a darker red shirt, jeans ripped up at the edges and ending with a pair of worn sports shoes.

Ousuke is unlike any of them in appearance.

To be fair, Ousuke doesn’t really strike anyone as somebody who was one of the most powerful bladers in the world, but then again, what does? There’s no real standard for how to look.

Still, his 5 foot 8 height isn’t very impressive, and his clothing choices - a dark purple polo, black shorts, and black shoes - aren’t nearly as memorable as Ghost’s dramatic hooded cloak - in fact, he’s been asked if he’s a golfer more than several times.

His piercing eyes, a dark, almost black grey contrast his appearance, giving him an almost ethereal look, like he’s much older than he appears to be. It’s reinforced by the way he speaks, the way he holds himself - like he’s sophisticated and well educated.

And that’s how Damian can instantly recognize the Champion, besides the fact that his face is well-known to any bladers or non-blader watchers who are paying attention to beyblade news.

“Welcome to my humble team facility,” the man says, hands clasped behind his back as Ousuke ducks out of the fancy car Damian had sent to pick him up.

The building is sleek and grey and everything that someone might expect from a state of the art facility. As he allows Damian to lead him in, Ousuke studies his surroundings with a careful eye.

The inside is more grand than the outside, with spotless white walls arching up to a high ceiling. A few paintings hang from unseen hooks, all of famous renaissance painters, depicting grand battle scenes. Under Ousuke’s shoes, the tiled floor is shiny enough for him to see his reflection in.

Above him, modern-style glowing rod lights hang from thin silver ropes, casting a harsh colorless glow on everything. He swings his gaze towards his right and spots a sort of waiting area complete with couches and a long, low table with magazines artfully scattered across it.

Damian leads him past the receptionist and straight to an elevator, one of four that are awaiting use. Once they’re both inside, Ousuke says nothing as Damian presses a button to one of the floors.

There are mirrors on the back and sides of the elevator, with shiny metal handrails, glowing rod lights along the ceiling and the same bland white aesthetic as the rest of the building.

“So your main training areas are up at the top floors?” Ousuke asks slowly.

“Correct. I spared no expense on them.”

“That is… enlightening.” The Champion’s back is rigid.

Damian lets the silence stretch to an uncomfortably long period of time before inquiring, “What brings you here to my facility, if I may ask?”

“You may. It’s my duty as Champion to observe the strongest, most promising of the new generation. I have heard a great deal of things about you, Damian, and the beyblade team you have acquired. Is it correct that you know nothing about blading before having the team’s ownership transferred to you?”

“Ah… no, I’m afraid you’ve heard wrong. I am a blader myself, actually, but I haven’t the time to enjoy the sport. Running a business takes a great deal of my energy and efforts, you see, but I still wished to be involved with something I greatly enjoyed in the past.”

“Understandable.” The elevator chimes pleasantly as it comes to a smooth stop and the doors glide open soundlessly to reveal an unsurprisingly white hallway with the same glowing rod lights as before. At the end of the hallway is a pair of doors in white and silver, two half-moon handles gleaming as though they’d been recently polished.

Beyond the door… Ousuke takes a deep breath, feeling out with his bond. There’s only a few active auras in the room, and he’s not sure if they’re powerful or not.

Damian strides towards the door and Ousuke follows him as he pushes them open.

The training room, one of many that Ousuke is confident Damian could afford to build, is massive. There are two levels, the one below filled with stadiums and bladers hard at work battling against bots or each other. The upper level seems to be mostly strength conditioning equipment, shiny and new.

As Damian enters, the already soft noise of the training bladers fades into complete silence. They all stop whatever they’re doing to look towards the team owner with respect and to Ousuke with either wonder, admiration or curiosity.

Damian waves one hand and the kids go back to training.

Ousuke counts at least six of them, two using the stadiums and the rest training with the equipment. The aura’s he’d felt are coming from the bladers facing off against each other, one bot to the side as a placeholder for a third blader.

“Go shoot!” those two call together, and their beys zoom into the stadium.

“These are some potential recruits for the team,” Damian says, his voice its usual self-confident purr. “Let me know what you think of them.”

“They have potential,” Ousuke answers simply. It’s a good general answer. Everyone has potential, and he never specified how much. It’s just that not everyone can fully use that potential in tandem with natural talent or a strong will. He extends his senses again. Now that he’s close to the bladers, he might be able to pick out anyone powerful.

“Ah, then. What do you think of the facility itself, then?”

“Very impressive, at least to a normal observer. However I had already assumed high standards due to knowing how wealthy you are, so forgive me if I say I was not as impressed as some might be.”

“No offense taken,” Damian says smoothly. “How long do you plan on staying here and observing my team?”

“A few weeks.”

“Ah. I’m afraid you’ll be missing out on a few key bladers of the team. I had them sent to Japan to learn - after all, it is the heart of Beyblade and it has produced many powerful bladers. They will return to the team once the world championship series starts up.”

“Really. I have Elites stationed there. What are their names?”

“Seiji Kuroko, Elios Nero, Asa Hiroka. I would like to be informed of their progress if one of your Elites is up to the task.”

Ousuke tucks the information away for later, still searching for auras. There are more bladers, he knows it, but they aren’t here, so it’s harder to grasp the magic of their beys. He feels one that brings to mind the heavy curve of an axe’s blade, the clang of metal as a sword meets a dragon’s thick scales, a cry of pain smothered under a yearning for power and possibly revenge.

He probes farther, only half-listening to Damian as he strains to pick up any auras.

At the edge of his perception is something oily and slimy, hidden away behind thick iron walls, but cracks in those walls allow it to seep out. It feels vaguely threatening but also is too slippery for him to really get a reading on it. He looks to Damian, but the older man is still smiling pleasantly.

Could Damian have the same ability as Ghost, to lock away his aura so that nobody could really feel it? Damian had said himself that he used to be a blader. It could also be that the aura had atrophied from disuse and that’s why it felt so weak and difficult to get a feel for.

As if sensing him, the oily aura retreats quickly, fading from his perception like it was never there in a first place.

Still, a sense of unease lingers in the back of Ousuke’s mind.

“I’ll be back tomorrow with the information you want. My Elites are _very_ good at their jobs.” _‘Well, technically Ghost’s Elites,_ he thinks with a bitter sneer. Ghost had picked and trained them well, probably more than he could have ever done, and it’s a huge blow to Ousuke’s ego that not only had he just been given the title, but even his Elites bore traces of Ghost’s touch. Even that Eze, who had been a runner up from the year before last year’s tournament, serving under Ghost for barely a year and helped them defeat Daedalus.

Everything he has is essentially a hand-me-down from Ghost, who always outshines him, even now when he’s the Champion.

He quickly schools his face back into its usual calm, but not before Damian notices. The man says nothing, however.

“I look forward to your next visit.” Damian steeples his fingers together, looking for all the world like a kindly man that just wanted children to be able to blade as he did. Ousuke knows it’s just a mask. No businessman could survive in the market full of predators unless they became one themselves. Damian had to have more motives, but Ousuke, having gotten a feel of him, decides he’s not a major threat. At least, not right now. “Feel free to take the elevator back down yourself, you must at least know where the lobby is now. I have some matters to take care of.”

Ousuke politely thanks him and does just that, taking the shiny new elevator down and striding briskly out of the building, taking out his phone as he does so. As he exits the front doors, he opens up a chat he hasn’t touched in almost a month.

Eze is probably worried about him. There’s no need to be, not when he’s the most powerful blader and hides his training in a private place away from prying eyes.

Well, one of the most powerful. Ghost rises to the front of his mind, unbidden, and he clenches one hand.

He’s had enough of Ghost assuming control. He will wrest it from their hands and prove their time at the top is over.

He strides off to take care of business.

* * *

Far above him, Damian watches with a wry smirk as the Champion takes his leave.

He passes by the two bladers battling at a stadium and frowns disapprovingly, coming to a halt when one of them bursts. “Work harder,” he says softly, _dangerously_ , and the blader that had lost stares up at him for a moment, uncertainty flickering in their eyes. Then they quickly avert their gaze to grab their bey, and Damian walks on.

Most of them will be useless in the World series. He only knows Seiji, Elios, Asa and maybe that Sean are really up to the job, and that’s really all he needs. The rest are here because he needs to keep a front up.

And he’s obviously not going to put his best on the team until the time comes, like a sort of secret weapon. Never show your hand until it’s time to play it.

Damian strides out of the room, and unknown to him, the bladers in the practice room heave a collective sigh of relief as his presence gradually lightens its pressure on them.

He enters the elevator, and then takes a key card out of his pocket. Scanning it on a seemingly empty space of wall underneath the usual buttons, he watches as the elevator doors close firmly and a new button for a level underground appears.

With a smirk, Damian presses the button.

The elevator drops swiftly, past all those stories of kids who came hoping for fame and training who’ll only have their dreams crushed underfoot when they’re not selected for the World series team, and the lobby, where Ousuke had left through not ten minutes ago.

The elevator chimes and comes to a smooth stop, and as the doors open, a wave of cool air rushes into the elevator.

The corridor he enters is even more artificially white, colors washed out by the lighting rods. There aren’t any doors except for one at the very end of the corridor.

There’s no handle on that steel door, but there is a card scanner.

Damian scans his card again.

With a click, a handle appears, and Damian opens the now unlocked door.

The room inside is dark, just barely lit with a single short rod. It almost feels like a prison cell, with no windows, a simple cot in one corner and a stadium taking up half the room, along with various miscellaneous equipment. There’s a plain white desk near the cot, covered in papers with frantic scribbles on them. One of the walls has a sort of slot where the person inside might receive meals. Next to it, a door leading to a bathroom that's been left ajar.

There’s also a boy maybe fourteen or fifteen years old inside, sitting in a corner with his knees drawn up to his chin.

“Near,” Damian says, smiling, but it’s not a very nice smile. “It’s very rude not to greet me when I visit you.”

Near raises his head from his knees to glance at Damian, scowling, but says nothing.

Damian crosses his arms. “What do you want now?”

“I want to go out.” His voice is hoarse and rough from disuse.

“I’ve told you, you go out when I say you go out.”

“When is that?” Near wraps his arms tighter around himself.

“When I say so.”

The boy’s eyes harden. “Nyx and I have synced. Isn’t that enough?”

“Did you get your wings?”

“…no.”

“Not good enough.” Damian sniffs, brushing imaginary dust off his suit. “I might reconsider, however, when you acquire them. After all, your parents only want the best. And you really can’t consider yourself even close to the best when you can’t even accomplish such a simple task.”

Near’s mouth twists into a snarl at the mention of his parents. “I’ll have my wings soon,” he growls, gripping Nyx tightly in one hand as he casts his gaze back towards the floor.

Even without being in a battle or training, his aura is seeping out of him and Nyx, black mixed with deep red streaks starting to appear, forming faintly around him like a warped reflection of flames, marked with glimmering flecks of crimson. Damian can feel the oily slickness of his bond, dark and greasy and dangerous as a crocodile lying in wait for its prey to come close and take a drink.

Underneath the surface of Near’s power lurks a monster. He’s seen a few like this one, but Near has the strongest bond he’s ever felt before. Even more than the kid that had run away from him before, he thinks darkly. And that had been the boy’s ultimate downfall, and Damian’s mistake.

He won’t make the same mistake again. At least the other’s involvement with him had been well hidden. There’s no telling what Ghost might have been able to do to shut him down. Luckily, the switch in Champions had come at just the right time, and Near is almost ready. The boy is willful and angry, Nyx only fueling his emotional turmoil, but unlike last time, Damian has his hold tightly on Near’s throat and won’t hesitate to tighten his grip if Near shows any signs of true rebellion. Near is devoted and steadfast, despite his occasional bucking against Damian’s control, and the man knows deep down Near wants his help, _needs_ his help and won’t turn away when he’s persevered for so long down this path.

If only the boy had wings by now. Damian knows he’s capable, has felt the power of Nyx’s bond with him, and he’s fairly certain Near at his strongest will be able to manifest them.

No other bladers besides a handful of Elites, Ghost included, were able to summon their spirit in the form of an object or feature such as wings rather than a simple spirit manifestation, even outside of battle, which normal bladers could not. It spoke of the highest level of mastery over a bond a blader could have.

Damian himself could not. Although he considers himself a formidable blader, he’s never had what it takes to best Ghost and their Elites, but now with Near under his thumb, he might just be able to get rid of that particular pesky little thorn in his side playing at police.

And now Ghost is alone, their power handed over to Ousuke. Damian smirks almost unconsciously.

“Near,” he drawls, and the boy snaps his wrathful gaze back towards him. “Must I remind you that you were the one who asked for this? I _can_ let you go if you truly wish to leave, but who else would be able to provide so many resources for you to improve?”

Near inhales sharply. “No, I… I won’t leave.”

“Well then, I’ll be expecting your wings very soon. Don’t be disappointing. You know your parents’ standards are higher than mine, if I had any for you. I’m just helping you achieve your goal.”

“I know. I’ll have them soon.”

“Very good.”

The door clangs shut behind Damian as he turns on his heel and leaves Near on his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and here we have introduced our knockoff alexander gilten. everyone give the old man a round of applause please


	16. Add It To My Bucket List

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> District Finals happen. Ren then teaches the club about meditation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> updating early cuz if i don't do it today i won't for a whole week. midterms are ass who's with me

“Do you guys know where Hana is?” Ren asks the four Bey club as they gather at their viewing spot.

Luna and Akemi exchange glances. Then they look at the twins.

Ara puts up his hands in a sort of half shrug. “Haven’t seen her at all. I saw her earlier during school but I didn’t think she wouldn’t show for the tournament.”

“She’s not a finalist,” Suki points out. “It’s not super serious if she doesn’t come.”

“Yeah, but the finals are gonna be crazy! Me and Ara battling for dominance, sparks everywhere, ka-booms and explosions! How could Hana miss out, especially when it’s her _first_ tournament?!”

“She’s probably busy,” Luna murmurs. “Wouldn’t blame her. She’s a couple grades higher than us so she probably has more homework and school stuff to do.”

"Makes sense." Ren casts another glance around as if double checking that Hana isn't going to suddenly leap out from behind something.

As the time for the battle draws closer, Akemi and Ara head down to the back rooms, leaving the other three bladers to chill at their viewing spot.

Three soon becomes four as Yuuya wanders over.

"Am I allowed to look at the battles from here?" he asks, and without being prompted further, the bey club shift over so he has room.

He joins them at the railing to Ren’s left and leans on his elbows. A moment later he starts glancing around.

"Where's Hana?" the young trainer finally asks, puzzled. "Isn't she usually with you guys?"

"Dunno," Ren answers. "She didn't send anything in the group chat. Just ditched mysteriously."

"Oh, that's too bad." Yuuya looks a little sorry for the missing bey club member. "She could learn so much from these finals, considering Ara's pretty powerful and Akemi was a finalist last year. She's only been blading for what, two months?"

Ren shrugs. "I think closer to three or four."

"She never specified," Luna interjects. "But definitely less than half a year."

"So still new, huh. Impressive considering she got to the semifinals."

"She learns fast. We helped her out a lot," Ren says proudly. "I think she's growing at a good rate considering her late start."

The conversation ends there, but an awkward pause is cut short by the overly excitable announcer, who calls for silence. Most of the crowd quiet within three seconds, with the stragglers quickly petering off once they notice.

"Alright boys and girls!" The announcer clears his throat. "Today's finally the day we can see who's coming out on top! After quite a few brutal rounds, last year's finalist, Akemi, has clawed his way back up to the top with a close victory over a newbie who looked promising but couldn't pull out in front! And facing him is the mysterious Ara, who's proven that not all newbies are pushovers, as he's gone without losing a single point this entire tournament!"

Suki growls softly and it doesn’t go unnoticed by the rest of the club, but they stay silent.

“Please welcome them to the stage!”

The doors hiss open, and the crowd roars, though it’s not extremely loud.

For such a small tournament, they were pretty excitable. Maybe the announcer’s enthusiasm is contagious.

Ara’s face is hidden from the angle they’re watching, but they can see Akemi, and he has a sort of smug, excited-but-confident expression.

He doesn’t, however, say anything, and he and Ara take their stances.

“This will be a three point match,” the ref calls, and looks at both bladers to confirm they understand. “Whoever reaches three points first wins. This includes a four point win.”

He raises his arm. “Ready? Set.”

Akemi shifts backwards, and Ara lowers his launcher slightly.

“3, 2, 1! Go shoot!” they say simultaneously, and Amuratë and Aeternitas are sent into the stadium.

They’re both glowing, auras blazing to life as both beys touch the stadium, and the two beys are off, circling each other.

Aeternitas makes the first move, dipping down into Amuratë’s path and the beys collide with a resounding crack, energy flaring up from the collision as two auras clash and sizzle against each other.

It’s immediately clear that Aeternitas’s attack power is much greater than Amuratë’s, and it starts to push the other bey backwards, sparks flying from its tip where it grinds into the stadium floor.

Akemi recognizes it instantly. “Amuratë, get out of there!”

Amuratë’s saws whir to life, absorbing some of the energy, and it manages to slip out from Aeternitas’s punishing grasp, quickly curving down into the inner ring.

“Don’t let it get away.” Ara’s voice is quiet, but it reverberates with a dangerous undertone.

Aeternitas tears off after Amuratë, its layer tipping dangerously low and just barely scraping the stadium edge as it banks sharply to dive low.

It hits Amuratë but off-center, and the saws absorb the attack easily, Aeternitas unable to get a grip on the free-spinning rubber and curving up to the edge of the stadium. Undeterred, it comes back down for another attack.

“Stygian Counter!” Akemi shouts, flames blazing hotter around him, and Amuratë pulses.

Aeternitas hits it at an off angle again, and Amuratë easily fends it off. It keeps going, Amuratë tactfully saving its strength as it uses the saws to help slip out of the full brunt of Aeternitas’s power.

Suki feels more than sees the shift in Ara. The crowd doesn’t, but he hears Ren give a sharp intake of breath and feels Luna tense besides him.

Ara’s focus was already like a laser, centered on the battle, but now his aura is swirling around him, glittering and roiling almost violently.

“Eternal Warp!” His voice echoes, a stark contrast against before, and Aeternitas’s tip slams against the tornado ridge.

Like Andromeda had done before, Aeternitas grabs on to the ridge and speeds up, becoming a grey and yellow blur as it gathers its strength and leaving a sparking trail behind it.

The bey suddenly leaves the ridge, diving for the center where Amuratë is spinning, surrounded by its flaming aura like a shield. Aeternitas holds nothing back as it slams into Amuratë.

Amuratë is knocked out of the center with such force that it skids, its tip sparking as it tries to cling to the stadium. It manages to stabilize, but just as it does, Aeternitas is there, slashing away ruthlessly with its curved blades, and Amuratë is knocked off balance again.

Akemi’s jaw clenches.

“Hang in there!” he calls, but Aeternitas is close on his bey’s heels as it closes in for the kill.

The left-spinning bey charges into Amuratë’s path and it’s forced back again, wobbling unsteadily.

 _‘At this rate, Ara will-’_ Suki’s thought is cut off by Aeternitas seizing the opportunity and it curves around, its blades glinting, and runs over Amuratë like a train over a car, Amuratë bursting instantly.

“Burst finish. Two points to Ara,” the ref intones flatly.

Suki wonders how much the ref is paid to stand there and watch something he doesn’t understand the true meaning of.

Akemi grabs Amuratë’s parts, and looks sourly at Ara, who retrieves Aeternitas without saying anything.

The ref glances at both of them. “Second battle. Ready? Set.”

Akemi’s launch this time seems a little different, something Suki’s never seen before. If Akemi is improvising on the spot, he has to be confident the new move will work or catch Ara off-guard.

Ara dips his launcher lower like in the first battle.

“3, 2, 1! Go shoot!”

Amuratë streaks into the stadium, instantly going for the center while Aeternitas curves sharply around it. The Attack bey climbs the slope, briefly losing speed before gaining it back by charging down towards Amuratë.

Since it’s the first attack, Aeternitas easily has the most power behind it and knocks Amuratë back. In a flash, it arcs around and slams into it from underneath, sending Amuratë flying.

The battle moves from the center to the outer ring, and Aeternitas eagerly utilizes the entirety of the stadium to swing around and sweep Amuratë off its feet quite literally, keeping the Balance type from stabilizing and making full use of its saws.

Above the stadium, the two spirits are locked in battle, Aeternitas making long, graceful swipes with its scythe and Amuratë using its floating sawblade and claws to just barely parry the attacks or deflect them to the side.

With Amuratë on the defensive, Aeternitas pushes hard, her scythe a whirl of silver as she attacks, the curved blade seeming to come from all directions. In the stadium, Aeternitas is slamming headlong into Amuratë, allowing it to escape and then curving around to hit it again.

“Stygian Counter!” At the command, Amuratë’s saws begin to glow, and as Aeternitas hits it, the saws grip on to the jagged edges of the Attack bey and start to spin, getting faster the longer it’s locked in contact with Aeternitas.

Ara sees it too, and he subtly directs Aeternitas away. The bey slips away and curves around again, but this time it seems to dip lower, more towards the center.

Aeternitas curves up and smacks into Amuratë and it reels towards the edge of the stadium from the blow. It hits the wall with a resounding smack but continues to spin smoothly.

Its saws aren’t.

Suki suddenly understands Ara’s plan. The friction between the sudden hit from the unmoving stadium wall and the saws will slow the spin, and at the same time deal damage to Amuratë and force clicks.

Amuratë attempts to escape but Aeternitas is there, slashing away, and Amuratë rebounds upwards, crashing against the stadium wall again. Its saws slow further.

Amuratë wobbles, and Aeternitas seizes the chance.

“Aeternitas, ETERNAL WARP!” Ara’s voice rings out, and his aura glows even more brightly as his bey responds in kind and tears across the stadium straight towards Amuratë.

“Don’t give up! Stygian Pierce!”

Amuratë, with the last of its strength, blazes with ethereal fire and meets Aeternitas head-on.

There’s no contest this time. Amuratë, greatly weakened from Aeternitas bashing it into a wall, faced against an opponent that hadn’t played the long game, finally succumbs and bursts.

“Aeternitas with a burst finish. Ara wins with a score of 4-0.”

Akemi falls to his knees, panting.

“And there we have it, folks! The winner of this year’s District tournament is not something that we predicted. Give it up for the amazing Ara and his spotless run through the tournament, not giving up a single point to his opponents as he climbs the ranks!” The announcer throws his hands in the air. “This was a wild ride from start to finish, and I hope you all’ve enjoyed it as much as I have commentating on it!”

Confetti explodes into the air from hidden cannons and starts to drift down on Ara, who brushes off some that lands on his shoulder and head. The crowd’s volumes surge upwards, cheering and screaming. One girl shouts, “I LOVE YOU ARA!” and waves a paper fan with a heart on it, and Ara only spares her a brief glance, but she instantly blushes and almost swoons.

Suki sighs. It must be nice to have adoring fans already, even if Ara doesn’t care for them.

“Good battle,” Ara says to Akemi, who looks on the verge of a breakdown.

“Good battle,” Akemi manages to parrot back weakly as he grabs the pieces of his bey.

 _‘It must sting to win against me and then lose against Ara, especially in the finals,’_ Suki thinks sympathetically as he leans on the railing, trying to tune out the crowd. On the other hand, he’s proud of his twin for managing to take down the very blader that had beaten him.

It's probably nothing like the crowds of the official Nationals stadium, but it’s close enough.

Maybe he’ll have fans of his own. He self-consciously touches his pigeon scratch, which has healed over enough to start scarring.

At least it makes him look cool.

“Damn,” Yuuya says over to Suki’s left. “Your twin is a lot stronger than I originally predicted.”

“He’s pretty good.” Suki props his chin on one palm, watching as Ara walks off the stage, Akemi following suit quickly afterwards.

When Ara arrives, he’s met with congratulations and many, many pats on the back, and a hug from Ren. Akemi gets slightly less pats on the back.

“You both did great out there,” Luna says solemnly. “Ara, good job on your win. Akemi, you tried your best. Make it count in Regionals.”

“Nice job!” Yuuya exclaims, grinning at Ara. “You too, Akemi. It was a tough battle for the both of you, I could tell.”

“So then, he gets a free ticket to Nationals?” Suki asks, and Akemi nods.

“All Districts winners automatically qualify for Nationals. Winners of Regionals do, too,” he explains. The blader is more subdued than usual, missing his excitable and sometimes obnoxious energy.

Ren thinks for a moment. “Is there only one winner for Regionals?”

“I don’t think so, no. Depending on the number of bladers, they split it into blocks.”

“They do. Usually it’s four blocks,” Yuuya says. “I’ve watched a few Regional tournaments.”

“I was there,” Akemi says, a little irritated, but not truly angry. “Mine had three, since there weren’t enough bladers.”

“We’re waiting for our invitations, then?” Suki rubs his scar.

“If we even get any,” Ren points out. “There’s a chance we won’t.”

Akemi huffs. “I believe! I think we’ll all make it!”

Suki waves at him to be quiet. “Akemi, when do the invitations arrive?”

It’s Luna that answers this time. “A week after Districts is over.”

“So we’ll all train hard this week and then beat everyone else in Regionals, right?” Ren’s eyes are sparkling with fierce determination.

“That’s right.” Suki looks evenly back, and then looks over the rest of the club. They’ll make it to Nationals. Easy.

* * *

“Where were you?” Akemi demands when Hana appears at the doorway to the roof, panting slightly.

“I had a project,” she says between breaths. “I was too busy to shoot you guys a message, sorry!”

She drops her stuff in the backpack pile and comes over, still slightly winded.

Ren and Luna are currently battling, Bastet and Luxior exchanging blows as both fight for the center. As Hana glances into the stadium, she casually remarks, “I saw the District finals. It wasn’t very close.”

“Akemi tried,” Suki offers. “Ara was just… way too strong.”

Akemi gives him a weird look. “That’s not helping my case, Suki!”

Hana smiles at him. “I believe you tried your hardest.”

Mumbling a thanks, Akemi looks away.

Luxior rebounds off of Bastet over and over again as it unsuccessfully lands a barrage of attacks against the sturdy Defense type. Ren smirks as she sees that Bastet is still spinning strong, but then again, so is Luxior.

“There’s a reason I tried so hard to persuade Ara to join,” Suki says. “He’s just way too ridiculously strong.”

“Strength isn’t everything,” Ara responds softly, but he doesn’t look up from Aeternitas. “You’ve got a lot to learn.”

“W-Well, it isn’t, but it’s a _lot_. It plays a big part in a battle.”

“I can’t disagree with that, but…” Ara puts Aeternitas away and looks up at the currently battling bladers.

Ren pumps her fist as Luxior bursts itself on Bastet’s claws. “Yes!” she crows.

“Alright, you win this one,” Luna concedes. “But watch out. You were just one point away from a loss.”

“Well, yeah, but I _learned_ from the first battle.”

Both bladers step away, leaving two unoccupied spots at the stadium, one of which is quickly filled by Akemi. Luna goes over to the bench, curls up on it, and goes right to sleep.

Suki briefly wonders whether to step up to the unspoken challenge, but to his surprise, Hana takes the other spot.

“Oh, you’re approaching me?” Akemi puts a hand on his hip. “Instead of backing off you wanna challenge me head on?”

“Can’t get a chance to beat you without accepting your challenge,” Hana replies with an uncharacteristically bold smirk. “And I’ve gotten a lot stronger so don’t go easy. I have to challenge myself to get better.”

Both bladers get in their stances, though Hana still looks a little unsure with hers.

Foregoing the ‘ready, set’, they count themselves down.

“3, 2, 1! Go shoot!”

Griff is much faster than before, and more stable as well. It’s still not nearly as fast as Amuratë, which blazes around the stadium like a forest fire, easily catching up with Griff.

“Dodge it!” Hana calls, and Griff jolts, pulling sharply upwards suddenly and letting Amuratë pass harmlessly underneath.

“Go again!” As Akemi commands, Amuratë swings around for another attack, but Griff dashes out of the way at the last second, almost too late. One of its feathers just barely scrapes Amuratë.

Akemi looks up at Hana with newfound respect. She _has_ improved tremendously, becoming more confident and powerful, and most of all, she’s starting to grasp her bond with ease, something Akemi hadn’t seen in her first few battles with Ren and something he knows is born out of experience.

Bonding is innate, instinctive. It can’t be learned in a traditional sense, taught with words or feelings or trained into someone. Although one can draw on the experiences of other bladers, ultimately their bond’s strength is based on themselves.

To see Hana starting to get a feel for how to use that bond is… well, it makes Akemi proud, but also a little apprehensive. She might become his equal in a matter of months. Weeks, even, if she isn’t already now. He doubts she has a good enough sense of how to really use the bond, but she will soon.

For now, he’s stronger than her.

“Amuratë, Stygian Pierce!” As soon as the order leaves his mouth, Amuratë glows brightly with its flame-like aura, and it’s off after Griff, saws out and ready to draw blood.

It finally connects with Griff and the Stamina bey wobbles, its weak defense being cracked apart by the powerful Balance bey.

“We won’t go down that easily!” Hana meets his gaze evenly in a way that mirrors Ara’s during the District finals, her eyes flinty. She must have been studying Ara and his iron-like mental, strong and unshaken by anything.

Griff banks sharply, grazing Amuratë and shooting away, towards the other side of the stadium, the move allowing it to stabilize for the moment. As Amuratë chases the bey down, Griff suddenly curves again, falling behind the Balance type.

In a sudden burst of speed, it crashes into Amuratë from behind and the bey strikes the wall hard.

Akemi’s jaw drops. Alright, scratch studying only Ara’s mental. Hana had clearly reviewed his battle with Akemi as well and is attempting the same strategy now.

“That trick won’t work on us twice in a row,” he declares, and Amuratë quickly dives down to the middle ring, where gravity is pulling Griff towards. As Griff gets closer, Amuratë strikes with the speed of an adder, attacking it brutally as its saws block any attempt at a counter.

Hana’s resolve wavers for a moment, and Griff just barely manages to escape, albeit taking heavy damage.

Despite the ferocity of Amuratë’s attacks, its stamina is starting to run low, the weakness of its type beginning to catch up as Griff soars away, intent on allowing the Balance type to spin out.

Akemi grits his teeth. “Go after it!”

Amuratë responds, using the last of its strength to chase down the slippery Stamina bey.

Just as it’s about to be hit, Griff swings out of the way with a sharp turn and Amuratë blazes right past it.

His last chance used up, Akemi sighs when Amuratë slows to a stop. He lifts his gaze to Hana’s face, and she smirks slowly.

“One point to me,” she says cheerfully, and Akemi makes a face.

“Luck,” he snips back.

Hana just shrugs. “You wanna go again or no?”

“Yeah, let’s do it.”

Suki turns his attention away from the battle and to Ara, who’s _still_ staring at Aeternitas.

Since his battle with Akemi, Ara has been quiet, uncharacteristically so. Ara has always been the more peaceful, level-headed of them, but he’s even more withdrawn than usual.

“Ara.” Suki pokes his twin in the shoulder. “Hello?”

Ara glances at him. “What?” His eyes are sunken, dark circles much more prominent than before.

“I- uh. You alright?”

The corners of his twin’s mouth quirk into a small smile. “Are you?” he asks, promptly deflecting the original question.

“I guess I am. Better than before… Hey, don’t avoid your own question!”

“To be honest…” Ara sighs, rubbing a thumb over Aeternitas’s chip. “I’ve been feeling unbalanced. I can’t explain it much more than that. It’s like my control is slipping. Like what you were feeling before.”

His, quite frankly, amazing, talented, patient brother _losing control_? “Has the world gone mad?” Suki exclaims. “How could you be struggling like this?”

“Even the best bladers struggle,” Ara says calmly. “I’m not bothered by the thought of having a problem like yours. It’s… a learning experience.” He frowns, closing his hand on Aeternitas. “I’ve grown powerful. Way too powerful, way too fast. I’ll need time to reflect on this.”

“Did someone say reflect?” Ren butts in, standing over the twins. Suki glances up, startled by her sudden intrusion.

“None of-” Suki starts to say, but Ara looks at her, interested.

He also promptly cuts Suki off with “Do you have suggestions?”

The girl taps a finger against her lips. “I trained a lot in martial arts, but I also learned about meditation, self-improvement, all that. I could teach you.”

There’s a shout of triumph from the stadium and the three turn to look at the stadium, where Griff lies in pieces while Amuratë slowly spins out.

“Nice try,” Akemi says, blowing a raspberry at Hana, who crosses her arms and turns away.

Ren sighs, turning around and ignoring the two. “Alright, back to what I was saying. I can teach you how to meditate.”

“That would be appreciated.” Ara tucks away Aeternitas. “When do we start?”

“We can do it now.” Ren kicks off her shoes and indicates the stadium. “Let’s sit in a circle around it.”

She sits cross-legged, her back straight, and Ara and Suki try to copy her. Akemi and Hana wander over curiously and do the same.

“Take out your beys,” she says, and the other bey club members do, confused.

Ren grabs Bastet, and passes it from hand to hand. “Do what I’m doing. Feel the texture of the plastic. The metal. The temperature of your bey. How sharp are its edges? How heavy does it feel? Focus on just those sensations that you’re feeling. Clear all the other thoughts out of your mind.”

Her voice is gradually getting softer as she slips into a sort of half-trance. “Once you feel like you’re able to concentrate, focus on what you want to know. Sync your thoughts with the movements of your bey.”

Ara closes his eyes, running his fingers over Aeternitas’s blades. The chill of the metal, though somewhat warmed from the sunshine and his hand around the bey, stands in stark contrast against the plastic. An image of Aeternitas comes to his mind unbidden.

She floats in a dark void, her dress billowing faintly as though a gentle breeze were blowing.

There is, he realizes, as he feels ghostly wind whipping around him from a sluggish stream to a crazed frenzy as though he were caught in a hurricane.

He can see Aeternitas’s mouth moving, but the roar of the wind is drowning out her voice. Ara starts to walk towards her, straining against the howling gales that are getting stronger by the second.

“Aeternitas!” he shouts, but his voice is snatched away by the wind.

He’s starting to get frantic, and he feels Aeternitas’s blades biting into his palm.

Ara hangs on to the painful sensation, using it as a tether to ground himself. The wind seems to flow less against him and more through him, and within him, he feels something shift.

His bond flickers to life then, a glowing golden rope stretched thin between him and Aeternitas, shining and pulsing like a living thing. He grabs the bond with a hand, and hisses when it feels icy-cold.

But beyond the chill of the bond, he feels _power._ Raw, unrestrained power that’s funnelled into him through a tiny hole in a thick dam. Cracks are already starting to appear around the hole, widening it enough so that the flow becomes much faster, harder, _dangerous_ like it could sweep Ara right off his feet. And it would, if he couldn’t anchor himself against it and even master control over the raging torrent. Soon, he would be able to tear down that dam with his own bare hands and direct the flow of the power that Aeternitas grants him. Soon…

For now, the water-air mix swirls around his ankles, and he grabs his bond and focuses on the chill of the glowing rope.

Slowly but surely, he imposes his will on the bond, and the currents shift uncertainly in response to his tampering. He brushes off all the irritation and panic from before, letting his emotions cool and harden into ice, settling deep within him to be disposed of later, and he reaches out and brushes his conscious against Aeternitas. The torrent slows, lapping gently against his legs, no longer threatening to pull him under.

This time when she speaks, he hears her clearly, as if she was whispering right into his ear.

_Ask and you shall receive._

Ara is yanked sharply back into consciousness with a sharp intake of breath, feeling like he’s been slammed into a wall with how jarring the transition is.

His eyes fly open and he looks over to see Suki taking a nap.

Actually, so is Akemi. Both of them appear to have given up meditation and are now asleep, probably from boredom but also not wanting to seem lazy.

Hana is at least doing fine, though she also looks like she wants to follow Suki’s example, her head drooping.

Ren looks like she hasn’t moved at all, her chest rising and falling slowly. Bastet pulses softly with golden light between her fingers, synced up with her breathing.

It makes sense, he reasons. She’s been practicing the longest and knows how to hold her concentration for long periods of time.

Ara stands, groaning, and Ren’s eyes open, her gaze focusing on him as Bastet’s aura fades. “Done?” she asks quietly, and Ara nods, stretching out his cramped legs.

“I saw Aeternitas and, well…” Ara tucks Aeternitas into its case. “I… tried something. I don’t know if it worked that well.”

Ren smiles softly at him. “Meditation is meant to help you take a step back, look at things objectively and sort out your thoughts and memories. Sometimes you can slip into what I call your mindscape, where you can directly speak to your spirit and interact with it. Did you go there?”

“I… think I did?” Ara puts a hand unconsciously on his bey case. “And anyway, I feel a lot more centered now. Thank you.”

The girl grins back brightly. “No problem.”

Ara leans down and grabs Suki’s shoulder, vigorously shaking it. As he’d thought, Suki had been asleep, and he jolts awake with a wild glance around.

“Wh-wha?” Suki flails for a moment, his brain still sleep-addled. “I’m up! I swear I wasn’t sleeping!”

Ara snorts but doesn’t press him. “We should head back. A lot more time has passed than I realized.”

“What time is it?”

“A little past 17:00. I suspect we aren’t going to get much training in if we try now.”

Suki yawns, trying to hide it unsuccessfully. “Okay, let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> is that a motherfuckin jojo reference


	17. Nighttime Walks (and other enjoyable activities)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ara very unwillingly participates in a test.

Ara shivers.

Frowning, he wraps his jacket more tightly around himself. He’d prepared for outside to be chilly, but not _this_ cold. Maybe it was him getting too many doses of Aeternitas’s ice-cold power. He feels so cold even his internal organs are starting to complain.

After an unsuccessful attempt to go to sleep, he’d snuck out to take a walk. It’s something of a ritual at this point. Two in the morning and he’s gone until four. At that point, he manages to catch a couple hours of sleep before needing to go to school.

He’s tired and cold, but he won’t be able to sleep if he goes back now, and he knows it.

His breath comes in visible puffs in the air as the cold spikes.

An odd but powerful sense of deja vu sweeps over him and he stops.

Ara reaches a hand down and grabs Aeternitas. With the bey directly in contact with his hand and his bond now active so he can better sense other auras, he scans his surroundings.

He’s _felt_ this cold before. He knows it, will never forget how the chill cuts right to the bone and freezes him up like he’s a deer in the headlights.

He just can’t quite place his finger on it… 

Ara growls softly, huddling deeper into his soft wool jacket. He might as well head back, then. No use freezing to death in the middle of the night somewhere his twin is unlikely to find him in time to save him.

Turning around to go back, he starts to put Aeternitas away.

Something flashes in the corner of his eye. Something pale, moving so swiftly that Ara’s not convinced it had even been there before. Like a ghost.

He looks at the spot where he thought he’d saw the white blur but there’s nothing there.

Gritting his teeth, Ara swings his gaze in a wide semicircle around himself. Nothing moves except for a few leaves on the branches of a nearby tree.

Unluckily for him, he doesn’t notice the footsteps, so intense is his concentration, until a pebble crunches underneath a foot. Ara whirls around in response.

He comes face to face with a smooth white mask, the simple and childish markings, two dots for eyes and a small v for a mouth, eerily silent.

Then he’s grabbed by the throat, metal claws on the glove biting into his skin.

Ara barely has time to respond consciously but his instincts instantly switch his brain into survival mode and he lashes out with a foot. The kick connects but the stranger doesn’t even flinch. His hands come up to clutch the stranger’s arm as he’s lifted off his feet.

Their strange aura, blue and silver, simultaneously solidifying into sharp metal and then crumbling into liquid, flares up around them. It spirals down along their arm and engulfs him, and Ara gasps, feeling like he’s just been dunked into the icy Arctic ocean, so much worse than when he’d accepted Aeternitas’s deal.

The world lurches like he has vertigo, and Ara suddenly feels dizzy and sick. He is going to _vomit_ on this person, he’s sure of it. Everything spins and sways and the colors seem to smudge into one another and Ara shuts his eyes, feeling bile crawl up the back of his throat. Seconds blend into minutes into hours as the horrible sick feeling cuts through him and makes him weak and nauseous, and pins and needles prick into his skin. He doesn’t know how long he’s endured until he’s released.

Ara crumples to the ground in a heap. Pain lances through his head as he feels that strange, foreign aura creep over his skin, and his bond with Aeternitas instinctively activates to drive out the intruder. Pale yellow and grey meet the blue with a shower of sparks and his head pounds even more.

Ara grasps his head tightly in his hands, curling up on his side as his breaths come out fast and shallow, biting back a scream when the other aura digs its claws in and refuses to let go. He can feel Aeternitas responding to his distress, fighting hard to keep him from being overwhelmed, but the more she feeds him, the harder the other aura rips away at him.

And then the other aura abruptly withdraws, and Ara realizes too late the small hole from before that his power had been trickling through has now widened into a considerable gap. Without anything to be directed against, like a battle, his own bond that he’d reached far beyond his limits to strengthen now snaps against him like a rubber band.

He frantically tries to patch up the broken part, but the rush of raw power, pure strength catches him in a ferocious torrent and sweeps away his control in an instant, and Ara is dragged under.

Ecstasy and euphoria mingled with sharp stabs of pain slam into the unprepared boy, and Ara moans softly, shivering and dazed and feeling so, so weak. There’s no way he will be able to get up and face the stranger in this state. He can hear Aeternitas whispering faintly, his bond tangling around him and trapping him within its sticky glowing threads, and he flails under the weight of it all, drowning beneath the pounding waves.

And then it leaves him in a rush, and Ara feels hollow, his bond winking out like the last tick of a dying clock, leaving an oppressive feeling hanging over him, like he’s being smothered. Ara reflexively reaches out for his bond, but there’s only a gaping, empty void, and when he tries to look farther his head starts to pound and dull pain pulses through his body. It felt like one of his vital organs had been stolen from him, and the very air is stolen from his lungs as he tries to push past the pain and is rewarded with sharper, more vivid sensations.

Ara withdraws in a panic, and the pain fades to a faint throb. Phantom sensations still prick at his skin.

“Well that’s very… unique,” a voice mutters above him, and Ara cracks open one eye cautiously.

Backlit against a blinding sun is the cloaked figure, staring down at him impassively, head tilted to one side.

Ara scrambles to his knees, still feeling woozy and weak and not nearly balanced enough to stand, not to mention the pounding behind his eyes. “Who are you?”

Then, “Wait, it’s daytime already?” Panicked thoughts flit through his mind, Ara too confused and stunned to squash them down, and his eyes rapidly flick from the stranger to his surroundings.

“We are in Symurgh’s domain.” Somehow, Ara gets the feeling the stranger is frowning at him disapprovingly, even through the mask. “I brought you here to test you.”

Ara slowly sits back on his heels, looking around and really taking in where they are. It’s the beypark, but the colors are pale and washed out like someone put a filter over his eyes. Also, there seem to be absolutely no other people besides himself and the stranger.

“Test me for what?” His head is still throbbing slightly, but he’s starting to recover. The nausea has abated for now.

“You are… interesting to me.” The stranger laughs, light and melodic, but their voice is tinged with a subtle undertone that makes it sound like there are two people speaking at once, with a feminine voice and a masculine voice. “As for my identity, well, I’ll give you three guesses as to who I am. You should only need one.”

Ara racks his brain, shuffling through his memories. They don’t sound familiar, but… they definitely look like Ara has seen them somewhere before. Surely someone wearing something so distinctive would stand out?

“Come on,” they chide when Ara’s brows crease and he says nothing. “It’s not hard to figure out.”

A blader. One guess. Distinctive cloak and mask. It finally comes to him.

“Ghost. Former Champion.”

Ghost claps slowly. Sarcastically. “Congratulations, you can remember things.”

Ara frowns and ignores the jab. “What would a former Champion want to do with me?”

“I’ve been observing you and your friends,” they purr in response. “I intended on gauging your strength personally. I wasn’t expecting to run into you so suddenly, but I welcome all opportunities.”

“And you do that by making me sick to my stomach, get violent sensory overload and then turn off my bond?”

“Wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t let it happen.” Ghost examines one clawed hand. “The point is that side effects let me know how well you control your bond and communicate with your partner. Which you did poorly with, but better than I was expecting to be honest.”

“I can’t manipulate it much outside of battle,” Ara explains, and winces when Ghost turns their steely gaze on him.

“Not with that attitude you can’t.”

“I’m serious! I can only really exert control in battle!” He reaches for his bond instinctively and only feels that horrible gaping emptiness, and he recoils as agony stabs into him. Ghost hums with amusement at that, and Ara narrows his eyes at them.

Ghost stares him down. “Well, in any case, it doesn’t really matter. But I can also feel your bond and your spirit. Like I said, I’m here to gauge your strength, and what I see is a solid foundation. You are a well of limitless potential, Aragane Tsuchiya, you and your funny little clubmates. I hope you realize that.”

“Me? But…”

“What, you’re new to competitive blading?” Ghost scoffs. “So is your friend Hanako, and look where she is now. You could have been competing for years and hit your peak a long time ago. Besides, I said potential, not current strength.”

They lean forward, hooking a claw under Ara’s chin and forcing him to look up. “You don’t understand what you are. How strong you can become. You could be at the top with the right training.”

Ara jerks back, the metal claw scratching a thin red line under his jaw, and Ghost chuckles darkly, straightening.

“I don’t want to be the best,” Ara protests. “I never wanted to compete for the Champion’s title or get that spotlight.”

“You don’t have a choice now.” Ghost turns away. “You know that saying, something about power and responsibility. It applies here. You have the potential to be greater than Ousuke, you and the rest of your club. Ousuke is weak, weaker than I imagined, and it’s now your duty at this point to take his place. The strong have to be at the top.”

“…but you gave up the Champion’s title.” The boy frowns, his eyes narrowing. “It doesn’t line up with what you’re saying. You say you’re stronger than Ousuke, so _why_ give up that position?” Something doesn’t add up, too many pieces of the puzzle missing.

“It was an experiment of sorts. I wanted to see if the new generation has grown complacent. If they always rely on me to solve things, then what happens when my time comes? But,” they add with a dangerous tone, dark eyeholes boring straight into Ara’s, “that does _not_ mean I’m running from my responsibility, understand that.”

Ghost sighs. “Darling Ousuke, why are you so blind to what’s right in front of you?” they hum, folding their hands in front of them. “Nevermind me, I’m just here to make sure my true departure will go smoothly. You just focus on your own training. And really, the hard part isn’t defeating the Champion, it’s what comes after.”

They conjure up some aura, shape it into a long metal feather about the length of one of their forearms, and then plucks it out of the air as they wait for Ara to respond.

“Wait.” Ara’s mind races. “There’s six of us in the club, but there’s only one Champion.”

He can almost feel Ghost’s sinister delight as they reply, “Well then, we’ll just have to wait and see which one of you is the strongest, hmm?”

Their surroundings warp and twist back into night, the dirt underneath Ara’s feet flattening into the concrete of a sidewalk.

Something sharp prods him and his bond suddenly sparks back to life, glowing coals slowly filling the yawning abyss within him with warmth, albeit rather weakly. At least Ghost had given him back _some_ of his bond. Though now, he has some inkling of understanding as to how Ghost had ripped the magic right out of Daedalus.

Ara’s throat is already starting to bruise, dappled with soft red marks in a ring around his neck, and he touches the marks gingerly, thinking of a cold white mask. The air is bitingly chilly now, the wind sweeping unforgivingly over his hunched form.

He looks up, but Ghost is gone, appearing and disappearing as mysteriously as their namesake.

With their disappearance, the temperature slowly rises to a bearable level, and Ara stands on shaky legs, his bond with Aeternitas still partially disrupted as he stumbles back to his apartment.

* * *

“We all got an invite,” Akemi announces, waving five official-looking envelopes around haphazardly. “Well, except for Ara, ‘cause he won the Districts.” Ren reaches over and plucks the invitations from his hand before he can send them scattering over the edge of the roof.

It’s been three days since his encounter with Ghost, but Ara has told no one about it, not even Suki since his bond still feels weakened from the encounter. He needs to recover his strength, figure out what to do with the information first, and then how to tell the others.

Ghost wants Ousuke off the Champion’s throne, that much he’s certain of. It sounds like Ghost had intended on Ousuke taking over after her ‘loss’ but found him to be a less than satisfactory heir and decided someone from the bey club would be much better off in Ousuke’s place.

Did all former Champions do this? Ara pinches the bridge of his nose. Ghost is so complex and confusing. It’s lucky everyone else is occupied with their invitations, or they’d instantly notice him having a small mental crisis.

Scratch that, Hana is looking at him curiously as she opens her invitation. Being shy and off to the side probably made her the most perceptive of the club, and Ara turns away from her, feeling a shiver run up his spine. Ghost had been watching Hana closely too. Who knows if they could read minds or something?

“So what do we do with these?” Suki asks as he rips his own envelope open, studying a business card-looking piece of cardstock with ‘Regional Competitor: Suki’ printed neatly on it. Turning it over reveals a small circular symbol, but nothing else, so he puts the card away in his pocket and folds the envelope.

Akemi puts his invitation away too. “You give ‘em to the official looking guy.”

“What official looking guy?” Suki frowns. “That’s an awful description.”

“I dunno! He’s just the guy who stands in the way of you signing up. There’s no way you miss him. The stadium’s outdoors, by the way, so there aren’t really back rooms.”

“Regionals are fast, even faster than Districts since the pool of invited bladers is usually not too big plus it splits up the bladers into blocks like Akemi and Yuuya explained before. We’re looking at a two or three day tournament, and then about a month and a half in-between to prepare for Nationals,” Luna explains. “The end of Nationals coincides pretty well with the end of the first school term, and since blading is recognized as a sport at our school, we get lighter workloads during the active season.”

“Hm.” Ara is already mentally building a schedule so he can fit more intensive training in with his regular schoolwork. Since he doesn’t have to go through Regionals, he’ll have those two days off as well, though he’ll probably end up spending them watching the rest of the club compete anyway.

Although he _could_ theoretically skip, but he should at least show up for Suki’s sake.

He wouldn’t be a very good brother if he didn’t support Suki. Missing two days of training couldn’t possibly hurt him much, considering they have an entire fifty or so days to practice after that.

“What about Nationals?” Suki asks. “There’s no way a huge tournament like that is happening in three days.”

Luna shrugs. “Me and Akemi never got to compete at the national level.”

“I reviewed the Nationals,” Hana starts tentatively after a short silence. “I watched some of the saved broadcasts from last year, which are still in the WBBA’s servers and some key battles they posted on their website. From what I saw there are team battles and individual battles. There were a lot of teams. Like, I mean a _lot_.”

“Figures since people from all over Japan will be competing,” Akemi mutters. “What else?”

“Ousuke was in them.” _That_ gets everyone’s attention and if anyone wasn’t looking at Hana, they are now. “He battled against Duncan. I didn’t see any other Elites battle in the Japan Nationals.”

“Eze is from the European League. There’s no way you saw him. I don’t really know about Malakae but I’m assuming he’s not Japanese, and I’m pretty sure all the Elites have to had won or at least gotten pretty far in all sorts of worldwide National Championships. Or continental ones, in Eze’s case. Dunno why Europe does it like that.” Akemi picks at one of his fingernails. “Europe is weird.”

“And now Eze and Duncan are competing in this year’s Nationals.” Hana’s eyes flick up to the sky. “If they’re already some of the world’s top bladers why’d they need to compete in the Nationals all over again?”

“For fun maybe? I totally would,” Ren exclaims. “Plus prove themselves against new bladers. Also, I think they might be on the lookout for new generation talent.”

Ara’s breath catches in his chest. Ghost had said… almost the exact thing, only creepier because they were literally a stalker. He glances around discreetly, wondering if he might catch a glimpse of white cloth, and he clenches his hands to keep his fingers from twitching.

He’s _shaken_ , he realizes. Even with all his practice staying calm, he’s only a kid. Feeling Ghost’s display of raw power and how easily they can take him down anytime they want has him rattled to the core. Ghost is unpredictable and sadistic, and it makes him wary and cautious, jumping at shadows while paranoia runs rampant in him. He can’t handle Ghost’s brutal touch again, and he has no doubt they could inflict a lot more damage than what they had done before, if they wanted to.

He slowly zones back into the conversation, which has jumped from the Elites to something more mundane. Ren is going on about her pet shikoku, Xerxes, and showing pictures of the dog on her phone to everyone else.

Ara leans over and looks at the current picture. Xerxes is sitting on top of a couch back, an eyepatch covering one of its eyes and tail wagging so furiously it looks like a blur in the image.

“Nice,” he says, just to look like he was paying attention to Ren gush.

“He was gonna be euthanized for acting really weird and nobody wanting to adopt him. I decided I couldn’t let that happen.” Ren looks pleased with herself. “We’re not really sure if Xerxes is a dog or something else that just looks like a dog on the outside, but he hasn’t caused much trouble for us, even though he is a little bigger than average.”

“Weird behavior?” Akemi grabs Ren’s wrist to look at the photo again, squinting. “He looks pretty normal to me. What did he do?”

“Well, he knows how to meow,” is the reply, and everyone’s gaze instantly snaps to Ren. “He’s also bigger and stronger than average shikoku. I think he’s some sort of crossbreed but he looks like a normal shikoku on the outside besides his size. He’s also insanely quiet but can bark super loud whenever he wants, which is pretty much random.”

“What’s with the eyepatch?” Ara asks, still trying to get the image of a dog meowing out of his head.

“He went blind in one eye before we adopted him and people were getting creeped out cause his eye was like silver-ish white, you know, like a pearl. Plus people think he’s cuter with one, which helps a lot. I can bring him to our next Saturday meet up!”

“I, uh…” Ara pauses, unsure, but doesn’t want to be rude, so he settles on, “would love to meet your dog as long as he doesn’t bite my face off.” It’s just a dog, he reasons with himself. It can’t be that bad, even if Xerxes can meow.

“Xerxes doesn’t bite. He’s a good boy.”

“We had a cat once,” Luna says after a while so the conversation doesn’t dwindle down to an awkward pause. “His name was Goldie. I tried to rename him but he wouldn’t respond to any other name.” Luna looks distinctly displeased by the fact, his face slightly pinched.

“I had a scorpion, Mr. Sting,” Hana volunteers softly, emboldened by Luna. “It died a year ago.”

Akemi butts in with “My aunt raises quails!” and begins to list off all the hens by name, ticking off his fingers. Ara starts to zone out again, Akemi’s voice fading into white noise as he retreats into his mind to contemplate the state of things.

Ghost’s voice whispers tauntingly in his ears. _You just focus on your training. The hard part isn’t defeating the Champion._

Easy for Ghost to say, Ara thinks, annoyed. They’re the most powerful blader in the world, of _course_ to them it’s not that difficult. To them, Ousuke is a mere pebble they can step over. To him and the rest of the bey club, Ousuke is an entire mountain range to struggle across.

Maybe Ghost is way too confident in his abilities. It’s not like Districts was a cakewalk - several times he’d thought the battle was lost and Aeternitas was finished. Plus, hardly anyone who had competed in Districts had an aura besides the bey club, so it’s hard to gauge exactly how strong he is versus other powerful bladers.

A finger jabs him sharply in the ribs and yanks him back into the present. His bond throbs with a dull ache as he becomes aware of his surroundings.

Without missing a beat, Ara swats away Suki’s hand. “Stop that.”

“Ara.” Suki is staring at him. “We should be going now.”

Ara blinks slowly, then looks at the time on his phone. It _is_ pretty late. “Right. Let’s go.”

He tucks away the thoughts of Ghost into a far corner of his brain and hopes they’ll stay there, though he knows it’ll come up again later.

A chill ripples through the air and Ara’s head whips around, but there’s nothing there.

It’s just a normal breeze. Wind. A natural phenomenon he should _not_ be jumping at the touch of.

Before Suki can take note of his strange behavior, Ara grabs his backpack and starts down the stairs, leaving his twin to chase after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys whats up sorry i disappeared but life got in the way and yadda yada, yall know the drill
> 
> this fic is really starting to drag me down with its tremendous weight, i'm only 150 pages in and i'm about to collapse. i did NOT mean to make it this long but this thing just kept growing and growing. it is feeding off my life. i am trapped in its basement, send help please.  
> in the meantime while writing block repeatedly bashes my face in, i'm starting up my au works again. feel free to check out my series Daybreaker Variations or Crack in the Glass if you want more of these ocs, but not in a beyblade setting. or as children. in a dystopia. not because i like dystopias i just wanted to see how much pain i can make these kiddos go through.
> 
> concerning the next chapter i honestly do not know when it'll come out. i want to post it but i'm way behind schedule on writing chapters and i need to get more done before i can actually show them. you thought upload times were weird before? now they're gonna be completely unpredictable.
> 
> anyway, bye now smile :)


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